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LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi is set to hold a meeting with the national cricket team, recently picked for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which is slated to start next month.
According to the sources, the chairman will brief the players about participation in the World Cup and share the strategy with them.
The decision on Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup will be made after consultation with the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
A day earlier, Mohsin Naqvi said that the final call on the national team’s participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 will be taken by the federal government.
Naqvi’s remarks came after International Cricket Council (ICC) had replaced Bangladesh with Scotland for the upcoming World Cup following Bangladesh’s refusal to travel to India for the event.
The ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had been engaged in prolonged discussions over the issue, resulting in the latter’s pull out from the mega event.
Against that backdrop, sources had suggested that Pakistan could also consider boycotting the tournament after Bangladesh’s decision.
Speaking to the media in Lahore, Mohsin Naqvi made it clear that the PCB would not act independently on the matter and would align itself with the government’s position.
“The prime minister [Shehbaz Sharif] is currently not in the country. Once he returns, we will announce a final decision,” Naqvi said when asked about Pakistan’s stance following the ICC’s decision on Bangladesh.
The PCB chairman openly criticised the ICC’s handling of the situation, accusing the governing body of applying double standards and treating Bangladesh unfairly.
“Bangladesh has been treated unjustly. I raised the same point during the ICC board meeting,” Naqvi said.
“You cannot have a situation where one country is allowed to make decisions whenever it wants, while another is denied the same consideration.”
Earlier today, Pakistan revealed their 15 member squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. The mega event will be played from 7 February to 8 March across Sri Lanka and India.
Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (WK), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (WK), and Usman Tariq.
