“I think that is why the U-turn happened” - Harbhajan Singh reveals why Pakistan took a U-turn on their boycott drama

Former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh has stated that the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign can go ahead without the Pakistan team, but can’t go ahead without the Indian team, led by Suryakumar Yadav.

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Speaking exclusively to ANI, the former spinner asserted that to avoid the sanctions and penalties from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had to take a U-turn on their boycott drama.

"I think they realised it really late that the tournament can go on even without them, but not without India. They were saying a lot of things, that they support Bangladesh and won't play. Do that, that is their idea. We had said earlier that they would certainly take a U-Turn and play. Financial loss is too high, and when it comes to money, they will come pleading to play,” Harbhajan Singh told ANI.

"That is what has happened...Financial loss is too high, and they could even be banned in the future. ICC could have invoked charges against them, and maybe they would not have received the opportunity to host a tournament ever again. I think that is why the U-turn happened,” he added.

For the unversed, the Pakistan government decided to end its boycott drama for their group stage clash against India, scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 15, in Colombo. The decision was taken after the successful talks between PCB, ICC, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Earlier on Sunday, February 1, the Pakistan government had initially decided to send the Pakistani national team for the showpiece event, but stated that the team wouldn’t make it to the field for the game against India to support the BCB.

Pakistan squad: Salman Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.

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