“You are killing the generation and hurting the game” - Kapil Dev disappointed with Pakistan’s decision to boycott India game in T20 WC 2026

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev has expressed his disappointment with Pakistan’s decision to boycott the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 match against India, scheduled to be played on Sunday, February 15.

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Notably, Pakistan, on Sunday, February 1, announced that they will take part in the campaign, but will not play the match against India. Interestingly, this decision was taken after Bangladesh pulled out of the showpiece event after the apex body rejected their request to shift their T20 World Cup games from India to Sri Lanka.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, the former skipper reckoned that if the decision to boycott the group stage game against India came from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), they would be killing the generation and hurting the game of cricket.

"If the decision was taken by the players, they can come out and say. However, if the board says that you will not play, the reputation of the country comes down," Kapil Dev said on NDTV.

"It is not looking bright for Pakistan. You are killing the generation. Pakistan have given us fantastic talents over the years. But if you will not allow these boys to play in the World Cup, you are killing the generation and hurting the game. You are being unfair to your own players," he added.

"The emotions and spectators will be impacted. But, in the long run, no one will miss them. People will not think about it for a long time and they will ultimately move on," he concluded.

India squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.

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

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