KARACHI, Pakistan — Pakistan will boycott their Feb 15 match of the Twenty20 World Cup against arch-rivals India in Colombo, the Pakistan government said on Sunday (Feb 1) while approving the team's participation in the global showpiece.

"The government... grants approval to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026, however, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on Feb 15, 2026 against India," the post on the government's official X account said without elaborating on reasons behind the decision.

Pakistan, who are scheduled to play all their matches in Sri Lanka, would forfeit two points if they boycotted the India match. There was no clarity on what would happen should the neighbours meet in a knockout game.

Bilateral cricket remains suspended between the nuclear-armed neighbours, who engaged in a military conflict that nearly snowballed into a fully-fledged war last year.

Their fraught political relations prompted the governing International Cricket Council (ICC) to broker an arrangement allowing them to play at a neutral venue when their neighbour hosts a global tournament.

The 2009 champions had earlier announced their squad for the 20-team tournament beginning on Feb 7, maintaining that their participation was subject to government approval.