The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi seems to have thrown another curveball at the ICC by hinting that the participation of the Pakistan cricket team at the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 is not yet certain.
Naqvi’s latest comments, in which he asserted that the final call on Pakistan featuring in the tournament will be in the hands of the Pakistani PM, came after the ICC officially replaced Bangladesh with Scotland for the Men’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 following Bangladesh’s refusal to travel to India for their matches.
The ICC is already dealing with the issue regarding the Bangladesh team, having now taken the decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) remained on their stance of not playing their games in India after demanding the shifting of their matches to Sri Lanka.
On Saturday, the ICC reportedly sent an email to its board members, confirming this outcome after almost three weeks of negotiation and with less than two weeks to go for the tournament.
“The BCB is not agreeable to playing the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 per the match schedule with their matches in India. We are, therefore, going ahead with the Board decision to replace Bangladesh in the tournament,” the ICC said in its email to the board members.
Earlier, in the ICC board member meeting on this topic, all but two board members had voted in favor of dropping Bangladesh if their government didn’t allow their team to play in India.
The BCB had received a supporting vote only from the PCB chair, Naqvi, who has now raised doubts over Pakistan’s participation in the competition and also called out the ICC, whose chairman is India’s Jay Shah, for removing Bangladesh from the tournament.
Pakistan will be playing all their matches in Sri Lanka, including the knockouts if they reach that stage. This is in adherence to the mutual agreement between the BCCI and the PCB last year when India played their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai.
We obey the Pakistan government, not ICC: Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi
On Saturday, Naqvi gave a statement in which he implied that Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming T20 World Cup is still undetermined, adding that the decision of the government will be obeyed.
Naqvi was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo, “Our stance [on World Cup participation] will be what the government of Pakistan instructs me. The Prime Minister is not in Pakistan right now. When he returns, I’ll be able to give you our final decision. It’s the government’s decision. We obey them, not the ICC.”
“If the government of Pakistan says we mustn’t play, then maybe the ICC will bring in a 22nd team (after Scotland). It’s up to the government.”
Naqvi said the Jay Shah-led ICC has done “injustice” with Bangladesh and that the governing council “can’t have double standards.”
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