Boycotting India at T20 World Cup to support Bangladesh: Pakistan PM Sharif

Boycotting India at T20 World Cup to support Bangladesh: Pakistan PM Sharif‘There should be no politics in sport,’ Sharif said while referencing to the recent India-Bangladesh cricket crisis.Published On 5 Feb 2026Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has confirmed the decision to boycott the ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup match by Pakistan against India, saying the move is a show of solidarity with Bangladesh.“We have taken this stand after careful deliberation and [decided that] on this matter, we must stand with Bangladesh and support them,” Sharif told his cabinet on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4A long time coming: Italy to make World Cup cricket debut on February 9list 2 of 4Who are the past winners, and what’s the history of the T20 World Cup?list 3 of 4A simple guide to playing cricketlist 4 of 4Balochistan to Bangladesh: Why Pakistan is boycotting India World Cup matchend of listOn Sunday, the Pakistani government announced that its men’s cricket team will not take the field in the match against archrivals India on February 15, without stating the reason behind the decision at the time.However, it was largely believed to be a mark of protest against Bangladesh’s ouster from the tournament for refusing to travel to India for their T20 World Cup fixtures.Sharif’s statement, made in a televised address, rubber-stamped the motive and confirmed the boycott.“We have taken a very clear stand that we will not play the match against India,” Sharif told the government officials. “Pakistan believes that this is sport, not politics, and there should be no politics in sport.”While Sharif did not elaborate on his statement, it points towards the ongoing cricket crisis surrounding the tournament, which began after a Bangladeshi player was expelled from the Indian Premier League on the directives of the India" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="20990" data-entity-type="organization">Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) last month.Mustafizur Rahman’s removal was linked to political tensions between Bangladesh and India, as confirmed by BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia, and led to a chain of events, including the boycott by Pakistan.