T20 World Cup: Pakistan’s U-turn, this masterstroke of ICC removed the arrogance of PCB Chairman Naqvi

New Delhi. The crisis that arose regarding the high voltage competition between India and Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is now over. Pakistan, which had threatened to boycott this match proposed in Colombo on 15th February, has taken a U-turn from its decision. To bring Pakistan to its knees, ICC used the same ploy through which Pakistan was creating drama for about 10 days. Now let us understand the whole story…

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi may be trying to give a different color to this decision, but the truth is that the ICC very cleverly made the situation such that Pakistan was left with no option but to take a U-turn.

drama timeline
This dispute started from Bangladesh. When Bangladesh refused to play T20 World Cup in India. Pakistan jumps into this dispute between BCCI and BCB. Which unnecessarily escalated the matter further. But when Pakistan’s efforts failed and ICC expelled Bangladesh from the World Cup, then Pakistan again made a move.

On February 1, Pakistan said that it will play the World Cup match. But out of respect for Bangladesh, it will boycott the match with India. Pakistan government announced this. Then ICC asked Pakistan to think about its decision.

ICC played a bet
ICC understood that this drama of Pakistan is only political and it wants to show how big a well-wisher it is of Bangladesh. But the reality is that he wants to humiliate India. It is also worth noting that BCCI did not take any initiative in this dispute. Now ICC
His move to corner Pakistan worked. That is, only those countries were put forward whose support Pakistan was talking about.

To resolve this dispute and bring Pakistan to its senses, ICC took the support of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and UAE.

story of first sri lanka
Sri Lanka is co-hosting this World Cup. India-Pak match is also to be held in Colombo. If this match had not taken place, Sri Lanka would have suffered a huge loss. In such a situation, ICC helped Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan President Dissanayake himself spoke to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over phone and appealed to reconsider the boycott of the India-Pakistan match. Sri Lanka reminded the two countries of their old cricket relations and standing by each other in difficult times.

Again UAE scolded Pakistan
After this the second pressure came from UAE. The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) wrote a letter to the PCB reminding them how during difficult times, Pakistan played its home matches in the UAE and remained in international cricket. The board clearly said that the boycott of the India-Pak match is not a matter of just two countries, but it will have a negative impact on the entire cricket ecosystem, especially the economic health of the associate countries.

Then got a shock from Bangladesh also
The third and most important front was that of Bangladesh. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Aminul Islam himself reached Lahore and met Mohsin Naqvi. The same Pakistan which had refused to play the match against India in support of Bangladesh, has now publicly appealed to Pakistan to play this match in the ‘larger interest of cricket’. This was the biggest moral pressure for Pakistan.

Amidst these three pressures, the ICC continued to hold back-channel talks. ICC made it clear that it will not impose any punishment on Bangladesh, it will also allow it to host ICC tournaments in future and the revenue share will also be protected. That means Pakistan’s ‘Solidarity Card’ ended there.

This entire incident once again showed that the India-Pakistan contest is not just cricket but the pivot of the global cricket economy. Instead of direct confrontation, ICC brought Pakistan to its knees by applying diplomatic pressure and saved the biggest match of the World Cup.