Former International Cricket Council (ICC) president and former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani has said that if Pakistan boycott the ICC T20 World Cup match against India on the instructions of governement, ICC is in no position to impose sanctions on them.
The Government of Pakistan, on February 1, announced that its national cricket team will travel to Sri Lanka to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, but also stunned the world when they stated that the Green Shirts will boycott the February 15 match against India.
The PCB has yet to give its decision in writing to the ICC. Still, the governing body of international cricket issued a reactive statement immediately on Sunday, warning Pakistan of sanctions if it doesn’t reconsider its stance.
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However, Mani believes that it will be an unjust act by the ICC if it decides to impose sanctions on Pakistan, as it is following the instructions from the government, the basis on which India refused to play the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.
“There can’t be any sanctions against Pakistan if it follows the government’s instructions. That was the basis on which India refused to play its 2025 Champions Trophy matches in Pakistan. You can’t have double standards. So, unfortunately, again I come back to the fact that instead of dealing with the problem, the ICC just stood there as a bystander,” Mani was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“You left the door open for any country to get its government involved. And especially knowing that the chairman of the PCB is a serving minister of the government.”
Pakistan are included in Group A, alongside India, the USA, the Netherlands, and Namibia.
The Green Shirts will begin their World Cup campaign against Netherland on February 7, 2026, in Colombo.
The 2009 champions are scheduled to play all of their matches in Sri Lanka; Colombo will host their four Group stage clashes, with Super Eights matches also scheduled in Colombo and Kandy.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.
Pakistan World Cup fixtures:
February 7: Pakistan vs Netherlands, Colombo
February 10: Pakistan vs USA, Colombo
February 15: India vs Pakistan, Colombo
February 18: Pakistan vs Namibia, Colombo
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