"Why Are You Drowning Us With You": Pakistan To Face Tough Question From Cricket World, Predicts Ex-Star

With a boycott looming over the India vs Pakistan clash on February 15, the T20 World Cup 2026 may become the first major International Cricket Council tournament in 14 years to miss a head-to-head contest between the traditional rivals. The T20 event opens Saturday with Pakistan facing the Netherlands, followed by India finishing off the Day 1 program against the United States. It is the scheduled February 15 encounter in Colombo between Pakistan and India that has plunged the 20-team tournament into crisis. Pakistan's government has refused permission for its national cricket team to take the field in the marquee Group A game. There's a chance the countries might face off in the semifinals or final, but it's unclear whether the cricketers will be asked to extend the boycott into the playoffs.

Former India star Aakash Chopra gave an interesting reply on how the broadcasters and International Cricket Council will recover money if the match does not go ahead.

"Firstly, it's a slightly rough calculation. It's not written anywhere how much you would earn from a particular game. The rumor market is hot at the moment. Everyone is saying whatever they wish. So you can't say that you get a quarter billion dollars from this," Chopra said.

"Plenty of things might happen. Everyone else will say, 'Tum to maroge hi, humein kyun leke doob rahe ho (You will drown anyway, why are you taking us down with you).' They will ask for them to be thrown out. Don't make them a part of the FTP. You can reprimand them because they are not bringing anything. You might not give NOCs to their players or have bilateral engagements with them."

He added that Pakistan cricket's relevance in current times is due to its rivalry with India.

"Pakistan cricket is important not because they play well - as they don't play well. They have reached the final of an ICC event only twice in the last 10 years. They last won in 2017 and reached the final in 2022. It's not like they are an incredible cricketing team," Chopra said.

"Pakistan is important because the India-Pakistan rivalry is alive. The day you kill that rivalry, the day India and Pakistan stop playing against each other, India will continue on their merry way - but Pakistan's value, in terms of what they bring to the table, absolutely diminishes."

Topics mentioned in this article

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