World T20: Cricket's patience running out as Pakistan keep all waiting

The suspense over Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup, created by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) at the eleventh hour, has begun to test the patience of the cricketing world. The first deadline of Friday set by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi has not yielded any decision at the time of writing — with the final one on Monday — but legitimate questions are now being asked about whether such dragging of feet is holding the sport to ransom.

It’s been nearly a week that the Pakistan board announced their World Cup squad with Salman Ali Agha as captain, but Naqvi put the ball in their government’s court for a final decision. While an official word may be pending, reports suggest that flights to Colombo have been booked for the green shirts on Monday, 2 February once their tune-up T20I series against Australia at home ends on Sunday.

The chatter from Pakistan, according to well placed sources across the border, reiterates that they will be going ahead as Naqvi reportedly advised PM Shahbaz Sharif on the necessity of maintaining ‘’good relations with the ICC’’ during their meeting. There are conflicting reports in the media — with the possibility of Pakistan playing while sporting a message in support of Bangladesh looking credible.

The scenario has polarised the former players’ community, with former India allrounder Irfan Pathan branding it as ‘nonsense’, while former India captain Ajinkya Rahane felt Pakistan would not have the ‘guts’ to go for a boycott because of its legal and financial ramifications.

There are important voices in Pakistan cricket, like Wasim Akram, who find it senseless to contemplate a boycott to show solidarity with Bangladesh, even the likes of Rashid Latif want the national team to selectively stay away from the India game on 15 February to financially hurt the Indian board and the ICC.

‘’Nonsense! Nonsense! This is absolutely utter nonsense from Pakistan. If you have agreed to a hybrid model before and to play in Sri Lanka, then why create this situation now? It is nothing other than utter nonsense,’’ Pathan told Revsportz.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka will deploy elite armed units to safeguard teams during next month’s World T20, with heightened security measures focused especially on matches involving arch-rivals India and Pakistan. The island nation is co-hosting the tournament with India and will stage 20 matches between 7 February and 8 March.

Sports minister Sunil Kumara Gamage said Sri Lanka has given the “highest priority” to ensuring the event runs smoothly with “special attention” on high-risk games. A total of 24 officials will serve as on-field umpires during the group stage. Other officials include Richard Kettleborough, Ahsan Raza, Langton Rusere and Adrian Holdstock.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2026: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.