Pakistan clarifies it won’t boycott the T20 World Cup even if Bangladesh opts out

Though Pakistan stands in solidarity with Bangladesh amid their security concerns, it won’t boycott the T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh has been in the news for citing security concerns about playing in the T20 World Cup in India, where they were slated to play in Mumbai and Kolkata. Amidst this row, Pakistan had come out in support of Bangladesh. However, Pakistan has now made it clear that, while it stands in solidarity with Bangladesh, it won’t boycottthe T20 World Cup.

Pakistan puts an end to speculations of halting preparations for the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan has now put an end to the speculations that they had halted preparations for the T20 World Cup and were considering a pull-out in solidarity with Bangladesh amid the latter’s standoff with the International Cricket Council (ICC). As per a report, Pakistan have clarified that they will not boycott the tournament even if Bangladesh opt to withdraw over security concerns related to playing their group-stage matches in India.

Pakistan clarifies its stance on playing in the T20 World Cup.

A source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told the publication, “Nope, this is not the PCB’s stand.” The source explained that since Pakistan are scheduled to play all their matches in Sri Lanka as per the pre-tournament agreement finalised in early 2025, after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy, there are no grounds for the PCB to withdraw from the World Cup. The source added, “Pakistan don’t have any grounds to do so, because the ICC would point out that Pakistan are already playing their matches in Sri Lanka. People just float such things to fire up the issue.”

Earlier, Pakistan’s news outlet Geo News reported that Bangladesh had reached out to Pakistan seeking diplomatic and cricketing support amid its dispute with the ICC. The standoff began after the BCCI instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders IPL franchise to drop Mustafizur Rahman from its squad, a move that reportedly angered the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Following this, Bangladesh banned the broadcast of the IPL and formally wrote to the ICC requesting that their scheduled T20 World Cup group matches be moved out of India. However, the request was rejected by the ICC.