Islamabad [Pakistan], January 24 : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country's interior minister Mohsin Naqvi has indicated that Pakistan could rethink its participation in the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka after Bangladesh were ejected from the tournament by the ICC, reported Dawn News.
When asked about the potential boycott of the tournament Naqvi said, "We are waiting for the prime minister to return," he said, adding that a final decision would be taken then."
Pakistan has already been given a concession by the ICC and will be playing all its league games including that against India in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi also came out in support of Bangladesh alleging that the ICC had treated the nation unfairly by ejecting it from the tournament.
"Bangladesh has been treated unfairly. I said the same in the board meeting of the International Cricket Council (ICC). You cannot have double standards, where one country can make whatever decision whenever and do the total opposite for another country. That is why we have taken the stand that Bangladesh is being treated unfairly and should be allowed to play the World Cup in any case. They are a major stakeholder and this injustice should not be done."
Mohsin Naqvi's comments follow the ICC's official removal of Bangladesh from the marquee tournament after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to play matches in India, according to ESPNcricinfo. In place of Bangladesh, Scotland has replaced them.
According to ESPNcricinfo reports, the ICC sent the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) an email on Friday evening informing them of the decision, after the BCB communicated that the Bangladesh government had not granted them permission to travel to India.
The report further added that BCB had taken the issue to the ICC's Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC). However, officical statement regarding BCB taking this matter to the DRC, or what the ICC's response was not come out to the public.
The ICC's decision comes after three weeks of talks between the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the ICC over Bangladesh's refusal to send its team to India for the marquee tournament due to security concerns.
Scotland was included based on the latest ICC rankings. Also, the European Nation has previously played in six of the nine editions of the Men's T20 World Cup (2007, 2009, 2016, 2021, 2022, and 2024).
Earlier, the Bangladesh Cricket Board had requested that the International Cricket Council shift their matches outside India to Sri Lanka, citing "security and safety concerns" for their players.
BCB's request came after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had instructed the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to release Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur from their squad ahead of the 2026 season, amid violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
After this, ICC rejected the BCB's request to move their matches out of India for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup via video conference, which was convened to discuss the way forward.
The BCB President, Aminul Islam Bulbul, then confirmed that the BCB stands firm in its decision not to play its ICC Men's World Cup matches in India, following the ICC's rejection of its request.