T20 World Cup: Sri Lanka Requests Pakistan to Reconsider Decision to Boycott India’s Match
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Feb 6: The Sri Lankan Cricket has requested its Pakistan counterpart to reconsider the decision to boycott its match against India in Colombo on February 15 even as the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government’s decision to boycott the match against India was “an appropriate decision” and “considered stance” to support Bangladesh.
Sri Lankan Board while reminding Pakistan that its team had helped Pakistan during the hard days following the attack on its team in Lahore in 2009, also pointed out that the forfeited match could hit the tourism sector of a country still recovering from an economic collapse.
“We have asked them to reconsider the decision based on the reports we have got,” Ashley de Silva, CEO of Sri Lanka Cricket, said on Friday. He said there could be hits from multiple angles if the boycott goes ahead, because Sri Lanka Cricket has already finalized arrangements for the February 15 match with all security plans in place, hotel bookings and ticket sales complete.
De Silva said the SLC wrote to its counterparts at the Pakistan Cricket Board on the basis of strong cricket relations between the two countries, but declined to provide further details.
“We write to you with reference to recent media reports through which Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has been apprised of the position of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in relation to Pakistan’s participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. From the said reports, it is understood that the PCB has confirmed that its National Team will participate in the tournament, with all matches involving Pakistan scheduled to be played 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.
“In this regard, we wish to place on record that Sri Lanka is highly anticipating the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, particularly in its capacity as a host venue for matches assigned to Sri Lanka. All commercial, operational, logistical, and security-related arrangements in respect of these matches have already been finalized. This includes, inter alia, hospitality planning and the sale of match tickets,” the letter added.
Sri Lanka also reminded Pakistan that they were among the first major teams to tour Pakistan following the 2009 attack in Lahore. International matches did not take place in Pakistan for a long period following the attack on the Sri Lankan team in March 2009. In the letter, SLC also noted that despite some players wanting to return home after the suicide bomb attack in Islamabad in 2025, SLC decided to honour its commitment to complete the tour.
“In this context, we respectfully recall that Sri Lanka Cricket and the Sri Lanka National Team have, on several occasions, toured Pakistan and participated in international fixtures notwithstanding exceptionally challenging and sensitive circumstances, including serious security-related incidents. These have included, inter alia, the attack on the national team convoy, as a result of which certain Sri Lankan players and officials sustained injuries, some of whom continue to carry physical impacts from those injuries to date, while others were left with profound and lasting psychological trauma. In more recent instances, further security incidents, including bombings in the region, placed additional emotional and professional strain on team members, with some compelled to contemplate withdrawal from ongoing engagements,” the SLC wrote.
“Notwithstanding the gravity of these circumstances, Sri Lanka Cricket, in close coordination with the Government of Sri Lanka, remained steadfast in its support of Pakistan and the Pakistan Cricket Board, and continued to honor its commitments to international cricket in the broader interests of the game and international solidarity, at times when several other cricketing nations were hesitant or unwilling to tour Pakistan,” the letter added.
Sri Lanka was the first national team to tour Pakistan to revive international cricket there following a long absence of incoming tours. That international suspension stemmed from a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team’s bus in Lahore.
The boycott has been looming over this tournament, which is being co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India, since Pakistan’s government announced earlier in the week that its cricket team will not take the field to play India. Pakistan’s government later clarified that the decision was made in solidarity with Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s cricket team has been told by the government to skip the February 15 game in Colombo after Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland for refusing to play its games in India on account of “security concerns.” “We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Mr Sharif stated after a government meeting. “We have taken a very considered stance, and we should completely stand by Bangladesh, and I think this is a very appropriate decision. We are with Bangladesh,” he added.
A livid International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned the Pakistan Cricket Board of serious consequences if it fails to show up for the high-profile match, which is a money magnet at the big event for sponsors, broadcasters and advertisers. The world body has hoped that the PCB would “consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”
The Bangladesh team was dumped from the T20 World Cup and replaced by Scotland after demanding its matches be relocated from India to Sri Lanka citing security concerns. The ICC said it found no security issues in India for the Bangladesh squad following independent assessments, and it was too late for the matches to be relocated.
Pakistan said the ICC was being inconsistent because it has allowed India and Pakistan to play in neutral venues in recent tournaments. Neighbouring India and Pakistan have had decades of military and diplomatic tensions that has spilled over to cricket, a game followed passionately by hundreds of millions of people from both countries.
Sri Lanka experienced an unprecedented economic collapse in 2022 and is now under an International Monetary Fund recovery program. Tourism is a key economic lifeline of the island nation.
