ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan is expected to make a final decision by next week, over the cricket team’s participation in next month’s Twenty20 World Cup, keeping open the possibility of a boycott over Bangladesh’s withdrawal.

A decision was expected on Monday, when Interior Minister and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

However, no decision was announced after the meeting, and Naqvi instead issued a statement on X, saying the “final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday”.

Naqvi had thrown the team’s participation into doubt on Saturday, saying Pakistan could pull out after the International Cricket Council replaced Bangladesh in the tournament. He had said then that he was waiting for the prime minister to return from abroad before coming to a decision.

PCB chief says decision could come by Friday, or next week

According to the PM Office’s media team, Naqvi called on the prime minister on Monday and apprised the premier on the “International Cricket Council matter”.

A source in the PM Office told Dawn that even PM’s media team was not informed about the decision.

A handout issued by the PMO, said: “During the meeting, he [interior minister] briefed the prime minister on the recent developments between the ICC and Bangl­adesh Cricket Board regarding the T20 World Cup.”

The PCB chief, meanwhile, stated that he had a “productive” meeting with PM Shehbaz.

“[I] briefed him on the ICC matter, and he directed that we resolve it while keeping all options on the table. It was agreed that the final decision will be taken either on Friday or next Monday,” the post read.

Well-informed sources told Dawn that Naqvi briefed the prime minister “on the positive and negative impacts of the options that can be adopted to show solidarity with Bangladesh”.

“A total boycott of the event is not the top priority, however, Pakistan could forfeit the group match against India to be held on Feb 15,” sources added. “For this, solid grounds are available to the PCB, which could avoid any sanctions or penalty on it from the ICC.”

Sources pointed to the frosty ties between India and Pakistan, with the two countries having come to the brink of war in May last year.

“Pakistan can say it is following the instructions of the government in not playing against India. In that case, the ICC cannot impose any cash penalty or sanctions on PCB.”

ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland on Saturday following their refusal to tour India over safety concerns in the wake of soured political relations between the Asian neighbours.

The governing ICC rejected Bangladesh’s request to move their matches to tournament co-host Sri Lanka, saying it was not feasible to change the schedule so close to the February 7 start of the tournament.

The BCB has accepted the decision and said it will not be involved in further arbitration over the issue.

“We have accepted the decision of the ICC board,” a BCB media official said in a statement. “Since the ICC has said that we cannot go and play or they cannot shift our games to Sri Lanka, in this case we cannot go and play in India. Our position remains the same. We are not going to any separate arbitration or anything here.”

Pakistan had backed Bangladesh’s stance in Wednesday’s ICC Board virtual meeting, saying there was a precedence of relocating India’s matches on security fears from Pakistan in last year’s Champions Trophy.

Then India, who have not toured Pakistan since 2008, played all their matches in Dubai.

The same option was given to Pakistan who will not tour India and play their World Cup matches in Sri Lanka under an agreement signed last year saying the two countries will play on neutral venues whenever one of them hosts an ICC event.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2026