Australia T20I captain Mitchell Marsh replied in a blunt manner after a question was asked to him about Pakistan’s likely forfeit of the T20 World Cup 2026 match against India.
The Pakistan Government on Sunday said that the team would participate in the marquee event but boycott the India match.
“I don’t really have a comment on that at this point in time,” he said in the press conference. “We are going to the World Cup, so we are just focusing on the World Cup and what we are doing. All of that stuff will take care of itself.”
The all-rounder was then asked about Bangladesh not playing the World Cup.
Mitchell Marsh’s response on Pakistan boycotting their clash against India and Bangladesh not participating in the #T20WorldCup
VC: PCB #Cricket | #Pakistan | #MitchellMarsh | #India pic.twitter.com/1KEpFsGyYb
— Khel Shel (@khelshel) February 1, 2026
“The same goes for my previous answer. We are going to the World Cup to try to win it. We are solely focused on that. As the Australian team, we trust the people who are in place to keep us safe,” he said.
The Government of Pakistan made a post on their social media that said, “The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan 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 15th February 2026 against India.”
Pakistan had announced the 15-member squad. “We are selectors, and our job is to pick the team. We’ve announced the team very close to the deadline. The government will decide on our participation so I can say nothing on that front. That’s what the chairman has said, too, so we’ll wait for their decision,” head coach Aaqib Javed said in a press conference.
Pakistan are scheduled to play India in Colombo on February 15.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2026: 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, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq
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