T20 World Cup 2026: 'It's the ICC that's taken a step back, not Pakistan,' says ex-PCB chief Najam Sethi

Najam Sethi, the former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said that it was in fact the International Cricket Council (ICC) that backed off in the recent T20 World Cup standoff and not Pakistan. Sethi added that Islamabad, for its part, took a “very considered decision”. 

The India-Pakistan match will go ahead as scheduled on February 15 in Colombo after the Pakistan government withdrew its boycott decision.

Pakistan decided to boycott the match following negotiations between the ICC and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).  Bangladesh was removed from the Men’s T20 World Cip after it refused to travel to India, citing security concerns. 

What did Najam Sethi say?

“In fact, it’s the ICC that has taken a step back. I think the ICC has decided to back off a little bit, give Bangladesh some space. It was a very considered decision from Pakistan. They looked at all the angles. They knew that there could be no sanctions (for boycotting the India match). They consulted the top lawyers at home and abroad,” Sethi said in an exclusive interview with India Today’s consulting editor, Rajdeep Sardesai.

He added that there were examples in the past due to which Pakistan thought it was on a strong wicket. “And I think the ICC also realised that, which is why then the ICC got into motion and made overtures. That’s how Imran Khawaja, the deputy chief, got into action. That’s how the Bangladeshis got into action. That’s how they came to Pakistan to negotiate so that Pakistan could play this match.” 

Mohsin Naqvi’s ‘no personal interest’ claim

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Tuesday that Islamabad had “no personal interest” in boycotting the IND vs PAK match. He insisted that the move was only aimed at securing “respect” for Bangladesh after they were thrown out of the tournament. 

“We did not discuss anything apart from Bangladesh. Our only purpose was to get Bangladesh respect and to highlight the injustice done to them,” Naqvi said.

“Whatever demands Bangladesh made were accepted. We had no personal interest in the meeting. Our task was purely related to Bangladesh. The government made the decision on that basis,” he added.

Furthermore, he said that Pakistan agreed to play the match once Bangladesh’s concerns were addressed and “it was acknowledged that injustice was done to them”.