What happened
Interior Minister and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi told Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Monday 26 January 2026 that a “final decision” on Pakistan’s participation in next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup would be taken “either on Friday or next Monday”, according to a Dawn report on the same day and a Prime Minister’s Office handout cited in Dawn’s coverage. Naqvi, in a post on X after the meeting, said Shehbaz had “directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table”.
The briefing followed the ICC’s announcement on Saturday 24 January 2026 that Scotland would replace Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup, which begins in India and Sri Lanka on 7 February. Bangladesh had refused to play in India after its player Mustafizur Rahman was released by his IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders amid rising bilateral tensions. The ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to relocate its matches to Sri Lanka and called up Scotland — the next-highest ranked T20I side after Bangladesh — into Group C alongside England, Italy, Nepal and the West Indies.
Why the PCB raised it
Naqvi set out the PCB’s position in a Lahore media talk on Saturday: Bangladesh is being treated unfairly and should be allowed to play the World Cup. He said Pakistan had taken that stance inside the ICC and asked whether a hybrid model similar to the India–Pakistan fixture could be extended to Bangladesh. He added that Pakistan’s final stance would follow the government’s instructions. The ICC’s statement cited “independent security assessments” from internal and external experts that found “no credible or verifiable security threat” to the Bangladesh team in India and said the board’s decision followed engagement with the BCB “over more than three weeks”.
What is still uncertain
Three things will shape Pakistan’s call before Friday. Whether the ICC, in response to PCB lobbying, opens any further channel with the Bangladesh Cricket Board before the 7 February start. Whether the prime minister’s office weighs a boycott against the cost to Pakistan’s bilateral cricket calendar and future ICC hosting. And whether the World Cricketers’ Association’s Sunday call for stakeholders to “work towards uniting the sport” produces any change in the ICC’s position. Naqvi told the Lahore press that the PCB had “Plan A, B, C, D” but said the prime minister would make the call on his return, which Dawn’s Monday report now places in the Friday-or-Monday window.
.jpg){kind=link}