The Sri Lankan government together with its T20 World Cup 2026 hosting partner Pakistan has asked Pakistan to reverse its decision to skip the group match against India that will take place in Colombo on February 15. The Pakistan government announced that its national team will take part in the competition but will not play the match against India. The ongoing dispute between Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and International Cricket Council (ICC) poses a financial threat to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) because they will miss out on revenue from ticket sales if the match does not happen. In a formal letter, Sri Lanka requested Pakistan to not boycott the fixture and play the match as scheduled
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has informed Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) about their current position regarding Pakistan’s participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The report indicates that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced its National Team will participate in the tournament with Pakistan’s matches scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka. At the same time, it has also been reported that a decision has been taken not to participate in the India vs Pakistan match scheduled to be played on 15 February 2026 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo,” the letter read, according to Hindustan Times.
Sri Lanka expects to host the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 tournament because they will hold matches during the event. The organizing committee has completed all arrangements that involve commercial operations and security measures for the upcoming matches. This includes, inter alia, hospitality planning and the sale of match tickets,” the letter added.
The first major international team to visit Pakistan after the Lahore attack in 2009 was Sri Lanka. After the March 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team no international matches occurred in Pakistan for an extended period of time. The SLC letter explained that some players wished to go home after the Islamabad suicide bomb attack but the organization chose to finish their scheduled tour.
Sri Lanka Cricket and the Sri Lanka National Team have visited Pakistan multiple times to play international matches while facing difficult conditions that included serious security threats which made it hard to operate. The attack on the national team convoy resulted in injuries for certain Sri Lankan players and officials who still experience physical effects from those injuries while some others developed deep and permanent psychological damage. The SLC wrote that recent security incidents which included regional bombings created extra emotional and job-related pressure on team members who had to think about quitting their current work.
“Despite the severity of these situations Sri Lanka Cricket continued to support Pakistan and the Pakistan Cricket Board while working with the Sri Lankan government to fulfill its international cricket obligations which helped preserve the game and soccer relations between nations at a time when most cricket teams refused to visit Pakistan,” the letter added.
Download the CricInformer app
Take CricInformer with you. Get our app for cricket news and updates on your phone.