T20 World Cup 2026: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has warned Pakistan of unprecedented sanctions if it continues to defy international cricket standards and relations.
The ICC said Pakistan could face total cricketing isolation including exclusion from the Asia Cup, a potential suspension of all bilateral series and a coordinated no no-objection certificates’ policy among member boards. This would mean foreign stars would not be able to participate in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
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These sanctions could cripple the primary revenue streams of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). They would also have a massive impact on the commercial value of the domestic cricket in the terror state of Pakistan, leaving the Pakistani team with no international matches outside of major events conducted by ICC.
T20 World Cup 2026-Reasons For Tough Stance
The PCB threatened to boycott the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 that would be held in India and Sri Lanka. This was after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to travel to India to play its group C matches.
The PCB initially supported BCB but then softened its stance before Mohsin Naqvi, the Interior Minister of Pakistan, blamed the ICC of double standards.
Naqvi seems to have angered the ICC by publicly challenging its authority and suggesting Pakistan has options to still withdraw from the T20 World Cup 2026.
Naqvi remarked that a final decision on the participation of Pakistan would be made by Shehbaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He also urged other cricket board to extend their solidarity to BCB the way Pakistan did.
BCB Director And Game Development Committee Chairman Resigns
Ishtiaque Sadeque, the BCB director and Game Development Committee chairman, resigned after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland. Sadeque offered family and personal commitments as the reasons for stepping down and claimed that his resignation is nothing due to any kind of internal board misunderstandings, disputes or grievances.
