The government of Pakistan has decided not to play the match against India in the T-20 World Cup. On this matter, the Pakistan government said in a statement issued on its social media account that it has given permission to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the tournament, but the team will not take the field in the match against India in Colombo on 15 February. With this decision, the ongoing speculation regarding Pakistan’s participation in the tournament ended. ABP News spoke to Lok Sabha member and former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad on this issue.

Kirti Azad was asked that Pakistan has refused to play against India in the T-20 World Cup. On this, the former Indian cricketer said that Pakistan knows that it cannot win against India, hence why doesn’t it die? He is doing this to save his honour, but when the terrorist attack happened in Pahalgam, we should not have played only then, we should have given a strong message that Pakistan is a terrorist country and we cannot play cricket matches against it.

The final decision will be taken by the government

This decision has come to the fore in an environment of increased political tension in the region, with the tournament being jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The government said on social media, ‘The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan approves the participation of the Pakistan cricket team in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, however, the Pakistan cricket team will not take the field in the scheduled match against India on 15 February 2026.’ Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had said that after Bangladesh was thrown out of the tournament, the final decision on the team’s participation will be taken by the government.

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