“No refusal from our side,” Suryakumar on India-Pakistan clash

Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu) – Pakistan has boycotted the T20 World Cup 2026 league match against India. The match is scheduled to be played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15th. Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav broke his silence on the matter, stating that the Indian players' flights are booked. India has not refused to play against Pakistan.

India and Pakistan have been placed in Group A of the T20 World Cup 2026, which also includes Namibia, Netherlands and the United States of America (USA), apart from these two countries.

The T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, with all Pakistan matches to be held in Sri Lanka, but Pakistan will not play its scheduled Men's T20 World Cup match against India at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15 as the government has given conditional approval to the team to participate in the tournament.

"We haven't refused to play against Pakistan, they have," Suryakumar Yadav told reporters at the T20 World Cup 2026 Captains' Day press conference on Thursday. "I think the mindset is quite clear. We haven't refused to play the match. It came from the other side. The ICC has released the official schedule. The BCCI and the government, in consultation with the ICC, have finalized a neutral venue. Our flight is booked for Colombo, so we're definitely going. The discussion within the team is that we'll play on February 7th first, then go there."

It is noteworthy that Pakistan's stance of not playing India comes after the ICC's decision to include Scotland in place of Bangladesh for the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh was excluded after refusing to play in India citing security concerns. Pakistan's Prime Minister on Wednesday reiterated that his senior men's cricket team will not play against India in the upcoming Men's T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India.

Earlier, the International Cricket Council (ICC) had expressed serious concern over the Pakistan government's decision to direct its cricket team to boycott the match against India, saying that this selective participation does not align with the basic principle of a global sports event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms as per the event schedule.