What Happens If Pakistan Refuses To Change India Boycott Stance? All Scenarios Explained

The Pakistan government put the entire cricketing ecosystem under threat as it announced the decision to bar its team from taking the field in Colombo for the T20 World Cup 2026 match against India on February 15. The decision doesn't just rob fans of the biggest rivalry in the sport but also threatens to derail the cricketing economics. Though the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is yet to state the government's directive as its official stance to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the signs aren't hinting towards a positive end to the story.

While NDTV sources have learned that back-channel talks have already started to resolve the matter, we take a look at the possible cricketing scenarios if Pakistan do refuse to take the field on February 15.

1. India Get Walkover: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already confirmed that the Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian team will travel to Colombo for the match against Pakistan. The team plans to hold a press conference, train, and arrive at the toss, wait for Pakistan to show up. However, if Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha doesn't show up at the toss, the match referee will be forced to give a walkover to the Indian team, along with two points. This decision by Pakistan will also hurt their Net Run Rate, making progression to the next round trickier.

2. Points Shared: Another scenario that can potentially arise is India and Pakistan sharing one point each. But, for this scenario to be fulfilled, both Suryakumar Yadav (India captain) and Salman Ali Agha (Pakistan captain) would need to be absent during the toss. This case would see the match referee award 1 point to each team.

3. ICC Convinces Pakistan To Play: The best-case scenario for all stakeholders is getting Pakistan to reverse the decision of boycotting the India match. For fans, players, broadcaster and all others connected with the game, there's no better scenario than to see the game proceeding as scheduled. 

Do India plan to skip the match against Pakistan?

According to a report in ANI, the Indian team has no intention of giving the Pakistan match a miss, even after seeing the statement issued by their opponent team's government on Sunday.

"Team India will travel to Sri Lanka and follow ICC protocol. They will practice as per schedule, do a press conference and reach the stadium according to time and wait for the match referee to call off the match," the report quoted a source as saying.

For India, the path is clear, following the ICC protocol and prepare as if the match is happening.

Topics mentioned in this article

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