Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi (Image credit: X) Pakistan left for Sri Lanka on Monday for the T20 World Cup as they await possible sanctions from the International Cricket Council following their refusal to play India in the tournament. A video released by the Pakistan Cricket Board showed the players in their new World Cup kit as they boarded a bus from a hotel in Lahore to the airport.Although India is co-hosting the competition, Pakistan will play all of its matches in Sri Lanka – including all knockout matches – due to ongoing political tensions between the two nations.
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Pakistan sent shockwaves through the cricketing world on Sunday after the government ordered the team to participate in the World Cup but boycott the group stage clash with India in Colombo on February 15. No explanation was given in the government’s post on X.According to reports, the PCB has to officially communicate the decision to the ICC, even as the global body has warned that there will be consequences. The ICC stated that “the position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the basic assumptions of a global sporting event”. He further said that Pakistan’s move “is not in the interest of the global game or in the interest of fans around the world, including millions in Pakistan”.India and Pakistan regularly participate in ICC events as they have not played a bilateral series for 14 years.The T20 World Cup begins on Saturday and Pakistan are set to open their campaign against the Netherlands. They also have their final warm-up game against Ireland in Colombo on Wednesday.Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, fresh from a 3-0 T20I series win over Australia in Lahore, has confirmed that the players will follow government orders.“It’s not our decision (to boycott the India match), we can’t do anything about it,” Agha said. “We will do whatever our government and (PCB) chairman says.”PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi accused the ICC of a “double standard” after it refused to relocate Bangladesh’s facilities to Sri Lanka when the Bangladesh government banned its team from traveling to India over security concerns. The ICC subsequently removed Bangladesh from the tournament and replaced them with Scotland.Political tensions between India and Pakistan spilled over onto the pitch last year as well, when Indian players refused to shake hands with Pakistan during three Asia Cup matches in the UAE, including the final. India later walked away without the trophy after refusing to accept it from Naqvi, who also serves as the president of the Asian Cricket Council.
