Good news for India vs Pakistan cricket fans, PM Shahbaz Sharif all set to…

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Mohsin Naqvi are set to meet on Monday to take a final call of participation of team in T20 World Cup 2026 match vs India on February 15.

India vs Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026: The back-and-forth over the much-anticipated India vs Pakistan Group A encounter at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15 finally appears to be coming to an end. Earlier this month, the Pakistan Government and their Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif had declared that their national team will be participating in the T20 World Cup 2026 but they will be not be stepping onto the field for their clash against arch-rivals Team India.

Since then the International Cricket Council, the Pakistan Cricket Board and Bangladesh Cricket Board have engaged in a tripartite meet in Lahore on Sunday evening. According to a report in Cricbuzz website, the three parties have reportedly agreed to a consensus and the matter has been forwarded to Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for his approval.

The report added that the Pakistan PM is set to meet PCB chief and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later in the day on Monday and formal announcement declaring that the February 15 match will go ahead is expected soon as well. There is less that one week left for the all-important Group A clash in Colombo and any further delay will be detrimental to all involved stakeholders which includes travelling fans as well as media.

PCB raised three key demands during its meeting with ICC officials.
• Enhanced compensation for Bangladesh
• A participation fee for Bangladesh despite its early exit from the T20 World Cup
• Hosting rights for a future ICC tournament pic.twitter.com/wvet411JyB
— Ihtisham Ul Haq (@iihtishamm) February 9, 2026

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“It is understood that the ICC has held firm on its expectation that Pakistan does not have grounds to make any demands and should, in fact, play as per the terms of Members Participation Agreement (MPA) and the pact it signed in December 2024, which proposed a hybrid hosting structure to accommodate India and Pakistan’s matches in neutral venues,” the Cricbuzz report stated.

According to various media report, the PCB are also looking for the restoration of bilateral series with India not just for Pakistan, but also for Bangladesh as well. In fact, the PCB and the BCB have demanded a tri-series involving India and themselves.

Pakistan want tri-series with India and Bangladesh

It is still unclear how many of PCB-BCB demands have been accepted, but the world body ICC are in no position to ensure bilateral or tri-series that involve Team India. Only the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which functions under the authority of the Government of India can take that call.

A bilateral series between India and Bangladesh is scheduled in September in Bangladesh but given the current diplomatic tensions between the two countries, that series will definitely be in doubt. A similar series between India Women team with Bangladesh was cancelled last year.

ICC deputy chair Imran Khwaja was in Lahore along with another board director, Mubashir Usmani of the UAE (online), was also part of the negotiation committee. Pakistan Government had decided to boycott the match against India in support of the Bangladesh team, who they feel had been unfairly thrown out of T20 World Cup 2026 for demanding that their league matches be shifted out of India to Sri Lanka.

The BCB had refused to send their team to India following the BCCI decision to ask pacer Mustafizur Rahman be released by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders team ahead of IPL 2026 season.

For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/

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The Times Of Bengal