T20 World Cup 2026: The highly anticipated India-Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup 2026 will be played on February 15 in Colombo. This decision was made after a trilateral meeting between the International Cricket Council, the Pakistan Cricket Board, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board in Lahore. According to a Cricbuzz report, the match will be played as per the scheduled date, and an official announcement is expected soon. Pakistan, which had threatened to boycott the match on the advice of its government, did not gain any significant advantage from this lengthy trilateral meeting.
Pakistani team will play against India
Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Monday that a final decision would be made within the next 24 hours. Speaking at a press conference after talks with the ICC and Bangladesh Cricket Board chairman Aminul Islam, Naqvi said that the PCB is awaiting responses from the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board on certain issues. Media reports stated that Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also received a call from Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who urged him to reverse the boycott decision. Geo News reported that Sharif assured him that the Pakistani team would play against India.
However, Naqvi told reporters, “We have spoken to them. It would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time. We will make a decision after we receive their response. We will go back to the Prime Minister (Shahbaz Sharif) for advice after receiving the ICC’s response.” He added, “An announcement can be made tomorrow or the day after.”
He said, “We respect our guests, and since the ICC came to our home, we gave them full respect. I cannot say much at this time because discussions are ongoing between the ICC and Bangladesh. If Bangladesh was right, we had to support them.” Bangladesh was reportedly excluded from the tournament for refusing to play in India due to security concerns.
The ICC has agreed to take a lenient approach towards Bangladesh. The ICC has assured it would not impose any sanctions on the BCB, which in turn has appealed to Pakistan to play the match against India on February 15.
