India vs Pakistan: Cricket’s $250m game at T20 World Cup to go ahead as government ends boycott ask

Pakistan against India at the men’s T20 World Cup is set to be played as originally scheduled on Sunday after Pakistan’s government ended its order for a boycott.

The fixture is expected to be watched by around 325 million people. For context, the NFL’s Super Bowl record viewership figure is 127.7 million.

On February 1, the match-up was thrown into doubt when the government of Pakistan announced that the national team would boycott their game on February 15 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said the move was a show of solidarity with Bangladesh — who withdrew from the tournament after refusing to play in India. Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland.

Sharif had since described that decision as a “clear stand”. “There should be no politics in sport,” he added. All of Pakistan’s matches had been scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka due to their refusal to participate in India.

On Monday evening, however, the Pakistan government said the boycott had been lifted.

“This decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the spirit of cricket, and to support the continuity of this global sport in all participating nations,” the statement read.

A statement from world cricket’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said the outcome of the game going ahead was in the “best interests of the game with integrity, neutrality and cooperation”, following its discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

As part of those discussions, the ICC confirmed that Bangladesh would face no penalties for not participating in the tournament and “will have the opportunity to host an ICC event ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2031”.

The match between India and Pakistan is cricket’s most lucrative financially and it is expected to generate $250million (£183.6m) in revenue for the ICC. It comes at an important moment for the governing body, given that India’s media rights holder, JioStar, was attempting to renegotiate its $3billion (£2.2bn) TV agreement due to losses incurred.

The tournament, which is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, has been overshadowed by diplomatic tensions between nations on the Indian subcontinent — the area which comprises India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Matches between India and Pakistan are rare. They do not collaborate outside of ICC events due to political hostility.

The two nations do not meet in bilateral series. They have not faced each other outside men’s major tournaments since 2013, and India have not played in Pakistan since 2008. Pakistan did not host any touring nations between 2009 and 2019 following the Lahore attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus, which killed six policemen and two civilians.

Pakistan hosted the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, but all of India’s matches were played in Dubai due to India’s refusal to play in Pakistan. The final, between India and New Zealand, was played in Dubai due to India’s position on Pakistan.

India and Pakistan are both in Group A of the tournament. India started their campaign with a victory over the U.S. while Pakistan defeated the Netherlands. Namibia is the other nation in the group.

Pakistan’s tournament continues on Tuesday with a game against the U.S..

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