“Have you got Bangladesh back into the tournament?” - Sunil Gavaskar slams Pakistan for their U-turn on boycott drama

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has slammed the Pakistan government and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their U-turn on the India group stage fixture boycott in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign.

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While the Pakistan government initially decided its national team wouldn't take the field against India, it later took a U-turn after the successful talks between the ICC, PCB, and BCB, with the game scheduled to go as planned on Sunday, February 15, in Colombo.

“They said that they stood with Bangladesh. Because Bangladesh was not allowed to have its matches in Sri Lanka, how can you say that you have stood with them? Bangladesh is out of the tournament,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“Because of these special circumstances, the ICC was never going to withhold Bangladesh’s appearance money or penalise it. I don’t think that could have happened because it was such a last-minute situation,” he added.

Furthermore, Gavaskar also slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for failing to bring Bangladesh back to the tournament after the latter pulled out of the showpiece event due to security concerns in India. He also went on to question the reason behind their initial decision to boycott the game against India and not the mega event as a whole.

“To say that you have helped Bangladesh get their share of the pie-sure, you might have got them their share of the pie. But have you got them back into the tournament? You haven’t. If you really stood with Bangladesh, you should have also opted out of the entire tournament,” he stated.

“Why are you only skipping the India match? India is not the only one to object to Bangladesh’s request. There were 11 or 12 other countries that said Bangladesh’s matches could not be shifted to Sri Lanka, but you are still going to play them. So what are you talking about?” he concluded.

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