Captain Salman Agha breaks silence on Pakistans decision to boycott T20 World Cup match vs India

New Delhi: Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha opened up on the government's decision to boycott the 2026 T20 World Cup match against India. The Government of Pakistan confirmed the news on Sunday, instructing the team to skip the group-stage match against India.

The decision came after the ICC decided to remove Bangladesh from the tournament after they refused to play their matches in India due to security concerns. The BCB remained firm on its stance, which led the global body to replace them with Scotland.

Pakistan's skipper said that it was not the player's decision and the team would follow the instructions of the government and the PCB.

"Yes, absolutely, we will go. But that is not our decision, sir, and we cannot do anything about it. Whatever our government and our chairman instruct us to do, we have to follow. Only then will we go, and we will do that," Agha said in the press conference after the T20I series win against Australia.

Pakistan were scheduled to take on India on February 15 at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Salman Agha and Co. defeated Australia by 111 runs to complete a 3-0 whitewash in the T20I series.

Pakistan are placed in Group A with India, Namibia, the Netherlands, and the UAE, with all their matches scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka, who are the co-host of the tournament alongside India.

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Relations between the PCB and BCCI have not been good after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the 2025 Champions Trophy. During the Asia Cup 2025, the Indian players also refused to shake hands with Pakistan cricketers after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Tensions grew further when the Bangladesh Cricket Board informed the ICC that their team would not travel to India due to security concerns. Pakistan reportedly also offered to host Bangladesh’s matches, but the ICC rejected the request.