Why did Pakistan end its India boycott at T20 World Cup?

EXPLAINERWhy did Pakistan end its India boycott at T20 World Cup?Al Jazeera explains how one player’s removal from a franchise led to the biggest cricket crisis in recent years.Published On 10 Feb 2026After more than a week of deadlock, negotiations and meetings, Pakistan has agreed to end its boycott of the match against India at the T20 World Cup, bringing an end to one of the biggest crises in cricket’s history.Barring the final, the India-Pakistan match is the biggest fixture at every cricket tournament, bringing in record-breaking viewing figures, enormous revenue and unmatched attention to the sport.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4India now sets the terms of global cricketlist 2 of 4ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2026 explained in maps and chartslist 3 of 4Can Pakistan be banned for boycotting India at T20 World Cup?list 4 of 4‘Intrusion of politics’: Pakistan’s boycott of India game divides opinionend of listHere’s how the T20 World Cup dispute started and ended:How and when did the T20 World Cup crisis begin?It all began when, on January 3, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Bangladeshi fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their squad for the Indian Premier League (IPL).The move came amid ongoing political tensions between India and Bangladesh, which the BCCI Secretary Devajit Saikia termed “recent developments which are going on all across”.Why did Bangladesh refuse to play in India?A day later, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that its team would not travel to India for the World Cup upon the advice of the interim Bangladeshi government, citing safety and security concerns for its players and staff.It requested the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate Bangladesh’s fixtures – all of which were to be held in India – to tournament cohosts Sri Lanka.Why did the ICC remove Bangladesh from the T20 World Cup?The ICC and BCB were engaged in negotiations for more than two weeks, during which the game’s global governing body unsuccessfully tried to persuade Bangladesh to play their games in India.