"I feel that as Chairman of the ICC, I would have tried to find a solution. You don't want to throw any member out of the tournament. The PCB has taken a stand, but I would have preferred they refrained from doing so and talked instead," said former ICC chief Ehsan Mani.

Former ICC chief and former PCB chairman Ehsan Mani stated that direct communication should take place between current ICC chairman Jay Shah and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi to resolve the issue.

"The PCB feels strongly that it was unfair or politically motivated. This should have been nipped in the bud; Mr Shah and Mr Naqvi should have spoken directly. I feel the PCB's stance was largely a reaction to feeling ignored," Mani said, in an interview with RevSportz.

In recent days, it has emerged that even Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have written to the PCB to not go ahead with their boycott, given the financial loss at stake. In their letter, Sri Lanka also reminded Pakistan that they were one of the first major nations to tour Pakistan after the 2009 Lahore attacks.

After initially not directly communicating to the ICC a reason behind its boycott, the PCB pressed the 'force majeure' clause, citing the government's social media post on February 1 that instructed them to participate in the T20 World Cup but boycott the India game.

However, the ICC hit back, stating that there was no qualification or justification behind the force majeure.

According to the report, the situation will now be handled in a manner of "dialogue" and not "confrontation". The ICC reportedly want to engage in a structured manner with the PCB to resolve the matter.  

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have softened its stance on boycotting their T20 World Cup 2026 match against India, after learning the potential damages that the International Cricket Council (ICC) could claim from them, according to a report by The Indian Express. This comes after extensive 'back-channel talks' between the PCB and the ICC.

Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2026, 'India Boycott' controversy. Stay tuned with us for all the live updates.