KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)

For nearly 10 days, the cricket world held its breath as a crisis engulfed the men’s 2026 T20 World Cup tournament under way in India before it blew over late on Monday evening. Talks of boycotting and moving matches in protest, from Pakistan and Bangladesh, were de-escalated with the help of negotiators and the critical intervention of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB), Aletihad has learnt.

Once the tensions were defused, there were challenges in "the area of communication" that still needed urgent addressing, something that could have still derailed the issue, a source close to the negotiations told Aletihad. It was a delicate juncture, the source said, while suggesting that the intervention of the ECB and its Secretary General Mubashshir Usmani, who was in London but remotely involved, proved to be the chief dealmaker.

The impasse was sparked when Bangladesh chose to opt out of playing in India and requested a late venue change after one of their players, Mustafizur Rahman, was asked to drop out of India’s private franchise tournament Indian Premier League. Bangladesh hit back, claiming security threat to their players in India for the World Cup, and asked to be put in another group with fixtures in co-hosts Sri Lanka.

The world body International Cricket Council (ICC) found this legally untenable and replaced them with Scotland through a board decision that voted 14-2 with only Pakistan offering support.

The dispute reached fever pitch when the Pakistan government posted on social media that it had instructed the board and the team to boycott their group match against India on February 15, in a show of solidarity with Bangladesh.

Even though no such decision was officially communicated to the ICC, the governing body opened back-channel negotiations over a few tense days, with Usmani and ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja burning the midnight oil over the weekend.

With time running out, further discussions were held at a meeting in Lahore where Bangladesh Cricket Board President Aminul Islam also weighed in. It was decided that ICC would pull back from imposing financial penalties on Bangladesh, something that Pakistan had also been facing, while also agreeing to Bangladesh hosting an international event between 2028 and 2031.

At that crucial juncture, the ECB intervened and an hour later, another missive by the Pakistan government went out to rescind the boycott decision.

From a revenue point of view, a game between India and Pakistan is a money-spinner for world cricket. One match singlehandedly brings in more money than other games put together. The resultant revenue pool for the ICC gets distributed to all member nations, which depend heavily on it to run their business.

This included Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, who also intervened. No wonder when details of the deal, as finalised with the help of Usmani and Khwaja, became public, the Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake thanked Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for “ensuring the game we all love goes on”.

By bridging the gap between the ICC, the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the PCB, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Usmani and Khwaja managed to secure an amicable consensus where others had failed.

Timeline: How the India–Pakistan T20 World Cup Standoff Unfolded

Jan 3: BCCI asks IPL side Kolkata Knight Riders to drop Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman amid political tensions.
Jan 4: Bangladesh Cricket Board, citing government advice and security concerns, refuses to travel to India for the World Cup and asks ICC to shift matches to Sri Lanka.
Jan 24: After failed talks, ICC expels Bangladesh from the tournament and replaces them with Scotland.
Late Jan: Pakistan backs Bangladesh, slams ICC for “double standards” and says it will consult its government on participation.
Early Feb: Pakistan government announces it will boycott the India match in solidarity with Bangladesh, triggering a major crisis.
Mid-Feb: ICC warns Pakistan, then enters negotiations involving PCB and BCB officials.
Feb 9: ICC says talks were “constructive”, agrees Bangladesh will face no sanctions and promises an ICC event in Bangladesh between 2028–31.
Feb 9 (later): Pakistan government orders its team to play India on February 15, ending the standoff.