Rs 1460 Crore Revenue Loss Prevented As ICC Convinces Pakistan To Take U-Turn On India Boycott

With Pakistan's U-turn on their earlier stance of boycotting the group-stage match against India at the T20 World Cup, the decks are now cleared for the mega-contest this Sunday. The controversy began when the Pakistan government announced that its team would not play against Suryakumar Yadav and Co. as a show of solidarity with Bangladesh, who were removed from the tournament after refusing to tour India. However, after several rounds of hectic parleys and pressure from the ICC, Pakistan finally relented on Monday.

The stakes were too high for the match, which generates the maximum revenue among all international cricket fixtures. According to a report in The Indian Express, quoting sources, Pakistan's decision to reverse the boycott prevented a revenue loss of $174 million (INR 1,460 crore) for the International Cricket Council (ICC). "The cumulative loss would have been around $174 million, including those related to broadcasters, gate money, and other sponsorships," a source stated.

The report added that prices for a Mumbai-Colombo-Mumbai round trip increased by Rs 10,000 to Rs 60,000 after Pakistan's U-turn.

Meanwhile, reacting to Pakistan's reversal after initially indicating it would not play the India match, Madan Lal said the decision was driven by the heavy losses Pakistan would have faced had it gone through with the boycott.

"Pakistan were bound to take a U-turn sooner or later, because not playing would have caused them huge losses. On one hand, they would have had to pay fines, and then there was the question of whether the ICC would even allow them to continue playing cricket or impose a ban for several years. Considering all these things, I think they made the right decision by agreeing to play the match against India," Madan Lal told IANS.

Topics mentioned in this article

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