New Delhi [India], February 2 : Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh slammed Pakistan's move to boycott their T20 World Cup group stage clash against India, seeking to know how Islamabad would benefit from the move, which he said was aimed at misleading people into thinking that the 'Men in Green' stood with Bangladesh.
Pakistan has decided to boycott its group-stage match against India in the ICC World T20 World Cup, scheduled for February 15. The Pakistan government said in a post on X that the Pakistan Team "shall not take the field" in the match against India without giving any reason. The match was scheduled for February 15. Pakistan is in Group A with India, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA for the marquee tournament.
Notably, this comes just days after Bangladesh were recently replaced by Scotland in the tournament after they refused to play their matches in India following the release of pacer Mustafizur Rahman by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on instructions of the BCCI in light of atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh.
Speaking on his Youtube channel, Harbhajan said, "Begani ki shaadi mein abdul dewaana. There is no logic or proper basis to this decision. What benefit are you going to get from this? This is just to show arrogance. If you really think that you can do something like this, then be adamant. Let us see if you really have the guts."
Harbhajan accused the country of creating drama to "mislead" people into thinking they stand in solidarity with Bangladesh and questioned if they had thought of the people who wanted the match to happen.
"This is a total drama created to mislead people into thinking that they are standing with Bangladesh. There is no problem with that, but what have you thought about the people of your country who want the India-Pakistan match to happen?," he added.
Harbhajan said that there was no room for dispute as the match was supposed to be played at a neutral venue, i.e, Colombo in the co-host nation Sri Lanka. The former spinner questioned why did Pakistan play their matches against India in the Asia Cup last year amid tensions between both nations and if the move was driven by revenue.
"This match was supposed to be played at a neutral venue, and there was no dispute with you. When there was a war recently, you played the Asia Cup despite that. There was the drama about the trophy, but the matches did happen because you were not ready to leave that revenue. If you are such a patriot, where was your patriotism there? So, you did not have any feelings for your country, but you now want to stand with some other country," he concluded.
Hours after Pakistan decided to boycott its T20 World Cup group stage clash against India, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said that "selective participation" is not fair with the "fundamental premise of a global sporting event" and that it expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.
ICC said in a release that it has noted the statement that the Government of Pakistan has made regarding the decision to instruct its national team to selectively participate in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026.
"While the ICC awaits official communication from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), this position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule," the release said.
It said that ICC tournaments are built on sporting integrity, competitiveness, consistency and fairness, and selective participation undermines the spirit and sanctity of the competitions.
"While the ICC respects the roles of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan. The ICC hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of," the release said.
It said ICC's priority remains the successful delivery of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which should also be the responsibility of all its members, including the PCB.
"It expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders," the release said.
Pakistan have a terrible record against India in the ICC T20 World Cups. The two teams have played eight times, with the record standing at 7-1 in India's favour. In the Asia Cup last year, Pakistan were clean-swept by a clinical India in a trilogy of entertaining matches, including the final. Throughout these matches, young Indian stars Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma bullied Pakistan bowlers with their fiery knocks, with Tilak scoring a brilliant 69* during a tense 147-run chase in the final, showing his big-match temperament. Pakistan announced its squad last month for the T20 World Cup, which is being hosted by India and Sri Lanka. They are placed in Group A alongside India, Namibia, the Netherlands and the USA.
The Indian team is in terrific form ahead of the World Cup and won the five-match T20I series against New Zealand 4-1.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and the country's interior minister, Mohsin Naqv,i last month met Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to brief him on the matter of the International Cricket Council (ICC) decision after Bangladesh refused to send its team to India over purported "security concerns".
ICC had last month announced that Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the tournament per the published match schedule.
The announcement came after the ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB's demand to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka, in the 20-team tournament to be played from February 7 to March 8, according to a release.
The decision followed an extensive process undertaken by the ICC to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India.
Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person.
As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and escalating security protocols for the event. These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including during discussions involving the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board.
The ICC's assessments concluded that there was no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India. In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule. The ICC also noted the importance of preserving the integrity and sanctity of the tournament schedule, safeguarding the interests of all participating teams and fans, and avoiding the establishment of precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events.
Following its meeting, the ICC requested the BCB to confirm, within a 24-hour timeframe, whether Bangladesh would participate in the tournament as scheduled. As no confirmation was received within the stipulated deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team.
Scotland is the highest-ranked T20I side not to originally qualify for the tournament. They are currently ranked 14th, ahead of seven teams already in the tournament: Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nepal, the United States of America (USA), Canada, Oman and Italy.
The defending champions, Team India, are slotted in Group A alongside Namibia, the Netherlands, the USA, and arch-rivals Pakistan.
The Men in Blue will play their opening fixture against the USA on February 7, followed by their match against on February 12.
Team India squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026:Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.
Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.