Pakistan will not boycott the T20 World Cup to show solidarity with Bangladesh if the ICC rejects the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) plea to move their matches out of India.
Asked if Pakistan, too, would pull out of the ICC event, starting on February 7, if Bangladesh’s matches aren’t shifted out of India, a source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told RevSportz: “Nope, this is not the PCB’s stand.”
He added: “Pakistan don’t have any ground to do so, for the ICC would tell the PCB that they are already playing their matches in Sri Lanka. People just float such things to fire up the issue.”
A story is doing the rounds that Bangladesh/BCB has reached out to their Pakistani counterpart for diplomatic and cricket support in the ongoing standoff with the ICC. After Mustafizur Rahman’s removal from the IPL, the BCB had sent a letter to the world body, urging that Bangladesh’s matches in the T20 World Cup be moved out of India as they have “security and safety” concerns of their players, staff and officials. They failed to show any valid security reasons and the ICC security team’s assessment found “nil to negligible” security threats at Indian venues.
The BCB, prompted by the Bangladesh government, however, is sticking to its stand of not sending the team to India and at the latest meeting with an ICC delegation, it proposed a group swap. The grapevine has it that the BCB suits put forward a proposal that Bangladesh would be going to Group B, with Ireland coming to Group C. “Among other points, the possibility of moving Bangladesh to a different group as a means of facilitating the matter with minimum logistical adjustments was discussed,” stated the BCB press release.
The Group B matches will be played in Sri Lanka, but it is learnt that Ireland have received assurances from the ICC that they won’t be forced to change the group. Bangladesh are scheduled to play three of their group league matches in Kolkata and another one in Mumbai.
The ICC is unlikely to revise the schedule and the ball is in the BCB’s court now. They have until 5 pm (Dubai time) on January 21 to inform the ICC about their course of action. Should Bangladesh decide to skip, not only do they risk forfeiting points, they might have to face pecuniary consequences as well. Not turning up for the World Cup would be a breach of the participation clause, and it’s linked to the ICC’s revenue share.
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T20 World Cup: Bangladesh’s ploy to bank on Pakistan is not going to be successful. Pakistan/PCB will not boycott the event.#BCB #T20WorldCup2026 @shamik100 @ThumsUpOfficial pic.twitter.com/4JLeQjQqLa
— RevSportz Global (@RevSportzGlobal) January 19, 2026
