“Mohsin Naqvi taking revenge from India for not accepting Asia Cup”- ICC's PAK chief

PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi [Source: @IMManu_18/x]

The ICC T20 World Cup 2026 row between the ICC, BCCI, PCB and the BCB took another turn for the worse earlier this week. As part of their protest against India and the BCCI, the Pakistan government barred the Pakistan team from facing their arch-rivals on February 15 for the showpiece event’s Group A fixture.

While neither the Pakistan government nor the PCB provided any explanation behind their decision, one can assume that they boycotted their India clash in a bid to support the ousted Bangladesh team. Additionally, the severing geo-political ties between India and Pakistan also seem to have factored in Pakistan’s boycott.

Former ICC chairman Ehsan Mani has just attributed Pakistan government’s boycott of India to another factor, one that involves the 2025 Asia Cup from last year.

Ehsan Mani says Pakistan government took revenge for ‘insulted’ PCB chief

During an interview with the Hindustan Times, former ICC and PCB chairman Ehsan Mani gave his take behind Pakistan government’s latest decision of boycotting India. He believes that current PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi is not happy with India after the ‘Men in Blue’ players refused to shake hands with Pakistan cricketers last year during the 2025 Asia Cup.

Ehsan Mani also added that with India refusing to accept the trophy from ACC President and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, the PCB and the Pakistan government has decided to withdraw from their big-ticket Group A match.

He said, “You've got to look at the background to this. I don't think the PCB chairman was happy with the Indian players' refusal to shake hands with the Pakistani players at the Asia Cup, then their refusal to take their trophy from him. You've really got to look at the whole picture; it's not a good relationship between the countries, which is sad, because we always worked very closely with BCCI, and their attitudes have changed significantly.”

With Ehsan Mani urging everyone to “look at the whole picture”, he conveniently forgot to mention that India refused to accept the trophy from PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi owing to the latter’s controversial remarks against the Indian Army earlier that same year.

Mani also did not attribute the severing India-Pakistan cricketing ties to the terrorist attack that took place in Pahalgam in early 2025.

Ehsan Mani defends PCB

Ehsan Mani has defended the PCB by claiming that the board is merely following Pakistan government’s instructions for the T20 World Cup 2026. He further urged current ICC Chairman Jay Shah to “talk to Pakistan” in a bid to overcome the current scenario.

He added, “The PCB is simply going to say it's following government instructions, the same as India did for refusing to come to Pakistan in the last ICC event. And this is all very unfortunate. I do hope that the chairman of ICC, after all, he represents all the countries, including Pakistan, is talking to Pakistan to see how they can overcome Pakistan's position. In fact, he should be engaging not only with PCB but also with the government of Pakistan.”

Pakistan to concede two points to India due to boycott

With Pakistan refusing to face India at the 2026 T20 World Cup, the ‘Men in Green’ are set to concede their two points to their arch-rivals.

As per the original ICC schedule, the India vs Pakistan Group A match will be held on February 15 in Colombo. The Pakistan team will commence its 2026 T20 World Cup campaign with a match against Netherlands on February 7 later this week.