Bangladesh Raise Eyebrow Over Pakistan Boycotting India Match At T20 World Cup: "Did Not Want Such Losses"

The turmoil regarding Pakistan boycotting their group-stage T20 World Cup match against India has pushed global cricket to the edge. Politics, history, and arch-rivalry aside, India vs Pakistan generates the most revenue among all cricket matches. The India-Pakistan T20 contest is conservatively valued at USD 500 million (Rs 4,500 crore) when broadcast rights, advertising premiums, sponsorship activations, ticketing, and downstream commercial activity such as legal betting and others are taken together. And it is not just India and Pakistan who benefit from the match. With both teams playing each other only in ICC and continental events, the world body enjoys a lion's share of the revenue generated. The ICC then shares its overall profit with its member associations as well.

Interestingly, a section of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is unhappy with Pakistan boycotting the India match. This comes amid an almost unanimous consensus that Pakistan boycotted the India match in solidarity with Bangladesh getting axed from the T20 World Cup. Bangladesh wanted its matches to be moved out of India, something the ICC did not accept-and replaced them with Scotland.

A senior BCB director, speaking to leading Bangladeshi publication Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said: "If the India-Pakistan match does not take place, the entire cricketing world will face financial losses. Even our dividend will decrease. We did not want such losses."

The official added that Pakistan's motive behind the move was very apparent. "Pakistan wanted to send a strong message to Indian cricket. They wanted to challenge India's dominance. From that perspective, the decision may make sense."

Another official closely involved in the events leading up to Bangladesh's exclusion, according to the same publication, was concerned about the declining ICC revenue as a result of the axing.

"This will directly affect the ICC's central revenue pool. Like everyone else, we are also stakeholders in that fund. Take Kenya or Uganda, for example. They would be satisfied with USD 100,000-200,000. But given our infrastructure, how will we survive if ICC revenues decline?" the BCB director said.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Pakistan Cricket Team Bangladesh Cricket Team T20 World Cup 2026 International Cricket Council BCCI Pakistan Cricket Board Cricket