Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi faced an awkward moment when he was questioned Pakistan’s decision to withdraw its boycott threat against India’s T20 World Cup match. The reporter asked Naqvi whether Pakistan had managed to convince the International Cricket Council (ICC) to meet some of its demands in exchange for dropping the boycott stance.
Naqvi has repeatedly claimed that Pakistan successfully negotiated in favor of Bangladesh, which he said was the intended outcome of a meeting between ICC officials and his Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Aminul Islam Bulbul in Lahore on Sunday.
The exchange came just hours before the Pakistan government officially confirmed the withdrawal of the boycott threat and granted the senior men’s team permission to face India in their scheduled T20 World Cup clash on February 15. Naqvi was attending the auction of Pakistan Super League franchise Multan when a reporter asked him about the status of negotiations.
“You must have seen Bangladesh’s statement. Bangladesh has requested that Pakistan play the match. Obviously, their problems have been resolved; that’s why they have made this request,” Naqvi told a reporter when asked if there was any positive development for Pakistan.
When pressed on whether Pakistan had managed to get the ICC to agree to any of its terms, the PCB chief said: “We took a stand against Bangladesh. It was their business. We didn’t do anything for ourselves.”
However, sources told India Today Pakistan made as many as five demands during their meeting with ICC officials on Sunday in an attempt to end the week-long impasse. The ICC has reportedly rejected three of those demands, including Pakistan’s bid to resume bilateral cricket series with India.
WHAT WERE THE FIVE REQUIREMENTS?
- No penalty for Bangladesh: Pakistan insisted that Bangladesh should not be penalized for withdrawing from the T20 World Cup and that it must receive its full share of the ICC’s revenue – a position the ICC had already decided independently.
- Compensation worldwide action: The ICC was urged to award Bangladesh a compensatory global tournament after last year’s Women’s T20 World Cup was moved from the country to Dubai due to civil unrest. An under-19 World Cup in the next cycle has been proposed as a possible alternative.
- Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan: Pakistan demanded that the ICC encourage India to resume bilateral cricket with Pakistan. The ICC rejected the request and reiterated that bilateral series do not fall under its jurisdiction, even within the World Test Championship.
- Tri-series and tour of Bangladesh: Proposals for an India-Pakistan-Bangladesh tri-series and for India to tour Bangladesh later this year, for the series postponed to 2025, were also rejected. The ICC argued that it had no authority to order bilateral or trilateral series.
WHY PAKISTAN WITHDRAWN THE BOYCOTT THREAT?
The turnaround, confirmed late on Monday by the Pakistan government, ensures that the February 15 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo – the most lucrative event in the cricket calendar – will go ahead as planned.
However, the decision collapsed after intensive tripartite talks in Lahore. The ICC secured a solution by guaranteeing itself The Bangladeshis will not face any financial or sporting sanctions for its download and will be prioritized for future hosting rights. Having resolved the primary argument of solidarity, the Pakistani government cited the “spirit of cricket” and the appeals of friendly nations such as Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates as the basis for its turnaround.
While the rhetoric focused on sportsmanship, the real driver was a staggering financial ultimatum. Industry analysts estimated that the cancellation would wipe out $250 million in revenue from a single day of gaming.
For the PCB, the math was existential: the loss from one boycotted match would exceed their entire annual operating budget almost seven times. By choosing to play, Pakistan avoids financial isolation while the ICC maintains the commercial pulse of the 2026 World Cup.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
February 10, 2026