Pakistan has decided to boycott its match against India in protest against Bangladesh’s exclusion from the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday.
In response, Bangladesh’s adviser for Youth and Sports, Asif Nazrul, has expressed his gratitude to Pakistan.
Asif Nazrul conveyed his thanks in a post published on his verified Facebook page at 10:13 am on Thursday.
In the post, he wrote, “Thank you, Pakistan. Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his country has decided to boycott the match against India in protest at Bangladesh being excluded from the T20 World Cup. Addressing members of the cabinet on Wednesday, he said, ‘We will not play against India, because politics should have no place on the field of sport. We’ve taken this decision after careful consideration. We should stand fully by Bangladesh. I believe this is a very appropriate decision.’”
The 2026 ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin on 7 February and will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The India–Pakistan match was due to be held in Colombo on 15 February. However, on Sunday, the Pakistani government announced that the Pakistan team would not play against India.
Following threats from communal extremists in India, Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was dropped from the Indian Premier League on 3 January.
Due to that incident, the Bangladesh government decided not to send its team to India for the World Cup. The following day, Bangladesh requested the ICC to relocate its matches to Sri Lanka.
The ICC, however, rejected the request, describing the Mustafizur Rahman incident as “isolated and irrelevant”.
Ultimately, after Bangladesh remained firm in its decision not to travel to India, the ICC excluded Bangladesh from the tournament and included Scotland in its place.