The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formally written to the ICC, expressing its support for Bangladesh’s decision to refuse to play the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup in India.
The development comes a day before ICC board members are set to meet on dicussing Bangladesh’s participation in the tournament.
The dispute started with Bangladesh has asked for shifting their group stage to Sri Lanka.
The ICC has repeatedly confirmed to BCB that the tournament schedule will not be altered and that Bangladesh are expected to play their matches in India.
Some reports indicated that the governing body has so far remained firm on its position. Despite multiple rounds of discussions between the ICC and BCB, neither side has softened its stance.
While the ICC has insisted that logistical and security assessments do not warrant a venue change, the BCB has confirmed that it will not send the team to India under the current circumstances.
On this occasion, the PCB’s late intervention follows days of speculation about its role in resolving the dispute. Meanwhile, some unverified reports suggests, Pakistan had offered to host Bangladesh’s games while some other claimed PCB was even reassessing Pakistan’s own participation depending on how the situation unfolded.
Pakistan will be playing all their matches in Sri Lanka under a hybrid model agreement with the BCCI and ICC till 2027.
The dispute started with BCCI’s decision to ask Kolkata Knight Rides to remove Bangladesh Pacer Mustafizur Rahman from the IPL 2026 squad which was linked to detoriating political ties.
Similarly, Bangladesh government has banned from the broadcast of the IPL and that has prompted Bangladesh government to formally state that the national team would not travel to India for the World Cup.
As per the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup schedule and with no change of plans until now, Bangladesh will play their opener match against West Indies on February 07 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
