Pakistan boycotts India T20 World Cup 2026 match—Have teams skipped matches in ICC tournaments before?
Pakistan on Sunday announced that it will boycott its ICC T20 World Cup 2026 group-stage match against India, scheduled for February 15 in Colombo.
The decision comes at a time of significant geopolitical tensions, with fellow South Asian neighbour Bangladesh withdrawing from the T20 World Cup, citing security concerns in India.
Pakistan’s decision not to face India is not the first time a team has opted out of playing specific games in a World Cup.
Here are the other instances of teams missing matches during a World Cup:
1996 – Australia and West Indies do not travel to Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka was in the midst of a civil war in the build-up to the 1996 ODI World Cup, which it jointly hosted along with India and Pakistan. Two weeks before the tournament, the Colombo Bank bombing killed 91 people and left several more injured.
Australia and West Indies had both been drawn in the same group as Sri Lanka, and were scheduled to play the host in Sri Lanka. However, both sides declined to travel to Colombo, citing security concerns. While neither side had any objection to playing Sri Lanka, their concerns about safety were significant enough that both sides remained in Mumbai when they were scheduled to play in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka was awarded both matches by walkover, but all three sides would progress to the next round.
2003 – England does not travel to Zimbabwe
When England and Zimbabwe were drawn in the same group at the 2003 ODI World Cup, there was a suggestion that England might not travel to Zimbabwe for their fixture in Harare. The Tony Blair-led government had taken an anti-Robert Mugabe stance, and the team was concerned about its security. Those concerns only increased when the team received death threats building up to the match, and ultimately, the Nasser Hussain-led side opted not to travel.
It was a move that would have significant implications for England’s World Cup campaign. Zimbabwe was awarded the fixture by walkover, and England would be knocked out of the World Cup, trailing Zimbabwe by two points.
2003 – New Zealand does not travel to Kenya
In the same tournament, New Zealand declined to travel to Nairobi to fulfil its fixture against Kenya. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said that it had “received strong information that there are active terrorist organisations currently operating in Nairobi which have the means and capability of launching a terrorist attack” and thus opted not to travel.
In the same fashion as the England-Zimbabwe case, a walkover was awarded to Kenya, though New Zealand would manage to qualify for the next round anyway. Kenya, meanwhile, would make it through to the next round, and ultimately reach the semifinals for the first time in its history.
Aside from these examples, there are further examples of teams opting not to go to international tournaments over security concerns.
Zimbabwe opted out of travelling to England for the 2009 T20 World Cup, deciding not to be “gatecrashers” to “a party they were not invited to” amidst doubts about whether its players would receive visas. Meanwhile, Australia did not travel to the 2016 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh over security concerns and New Zealand withdrew from the 2022 Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean due to the mandatory COVID-19 regulations its players would have been subject to upon return.
Published on Feb 01, 2026
