Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha on Thursday described Bangladesh as Pakistan’s “brothers” and said he hoped Bangladeshi fans would continue to support the men in green at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, even as he described their absence from the tournament as unfortunate.
Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland for the 2026 T20 World Cup after refusing to travel to India for their scheduled matches. The International Cricket Council subsequently eliminated Bangladesh from the tournament and placed Scotland in Group C. The decision followed Bangladesh’s request to move their matches from India citing security concerns amid rising regional tensions – a proposal rejected by the ICC.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has announced will boycott their group stage match against India 15 February in Sri Lanka to support Bangladesh. In an official statement, the Pakistani government confirmed its agreement for the team to participate in the tournament, but said that Pakistan “will not take the field” for the match in India. The team has been cleared to play the remaining matches of the competition, which starts on February 7.
During the second session of the ICC captains’ briefing, Agha thanked Bangladesh for supporting Pakistan and expressed disappointment at their exclusion from the World Cup.
“Well, they are our brothers. I thank them a lot for supporting us. It is really sad to see that they are not playing the World Cup. Hopefully they will be able to support us in the tournament as well,” said Agha.
The Pakistan captain reiterated his stance and stressed that the decision to boycott the match against India was taken by the government and was beyond the control of the team.
“We are not in control of the India game. It is the decision of the government and the PCB and we respect that. Whatever they decide, we will follow,” he said.
Agha added that the same approach would be taken by Pakistan if they faced India again in the knockout stage.
“If we have to play them again in the semi-finals or the final, we will have to go back to them and act on their advice,” he said.
Agha was also remembered here during the press conference Embarrassing defeat by Pakistan to a less fancy USA in the last year of the tournament in America.
“Yes, we lost to the USA in the last World Cup, but that’s history. It’s a new World Cup, a new team and a new combination and we’re very excited about it.”
“It’s my first World Cup as a captain and I’m very excited about it. I don’t know how to describe myself as a captain.
“As captain, I just want to lead from the front and do as much as I can for the team, get the best out of the team and create an environment where they play at their best,” Agha said.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
February 6, 2026
