ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s cricket team will be allowed to take part in the upcoming Twenty20 World Cup but must boycott its group game against India, the Pakistan government said Sunday.
India and Sri Lanka will co-host the 20-nation tournament, which starts Saturday.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026,” the government posted on its official X account. “However, the Pakistan Cricket Team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India.”
Pakistan will play all its games in Sri Lanka because of political tensions with India.
No reason was given for Pakistan boycotting the Group A game against India, but Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi had criticized governing body ICC for “double standards” by refusing to shift Bangladesh’s games to Sri Lanka. Bangladesh was replaced by Scotland for the tournament.
Naqvi was vocal in Pakistan’s support for Bangladesh and left the decision of Pakistan’s participation in the T20 World Cup to the government when he briefed Pakistan's prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, on the issue.
The International Cricket Council said in a statement that it was waiting to receive an official communication from the PCB over the planned boycott, while warning against harming "the spirit and sanctity” of the global events.
“This position of selective participation is difficult to reconcile with the fundamental premise of a global sporting event where all qualified teams are expected to compete on equal terms per the event schedule,” the ICC said.
“While the ICC respects the roles of governments in matters of national policy, this decision is not in the interest of the global game or the welfare of fans worldwide, including millions in Pakistan.”
The ICC said its priority is to successfully organize the T20 World Cup and "expects the PCB to explore a mutually acceptable resolution, which protects the interests of all stakeholders.”
The ICC also said it "hopes that the PCB will consider the significant and long-term implications for cricket in its own country as this is likely to impact the global cricket ecosystem, which it is itself a member and beneficiary of.”
Pakistan’s first match is against the Netherlands on Saturday. It will then take on the U.S. on Feb. 10 and Namibia on Feb. 18.
India would be set to receive two points if Pakistan forfeits the game.
A Pakistan vs. India tournament game attracts huge interest and is a significant source of income, through broadcasters and sponsors, for the ICC.
Pakistan and India have not played a bilateral cricket series for the last 14 years, but both nations have been bracketed in the same group of any ICC event since 2012.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha, who led the team to a 3-0 win in the three-match T20 series against Australia on Sunday in Lahore, said he will follow his government's instructions.
“It’s (boycotting game against India) not our decision, we can’t do anything about it,” Agha said. "We will do whatever our government and the (PCB) chairman say.”
The strained political relations between the two countries spilled onto the cricket field last year when India's players refused to shake hands with Pakistan's players during three Asia Cup games, including the final, in the United Arab Emirates.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Pakistan's Mohammad Nawaz, center, celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Australia's Cameron Green during the third T20 cricket match between Pakistan and Australia, in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A huge swath of the U.S. from the Gulf Coast into New England was mired in extra-cold temperatures Sunday after a bomb cyclone brought heavy snow and hundreds of flight cancellations to North Carolina, flurries and falling iguanas in Florida, and more misery for thousands who are still without power from last weekend's ice storm in the South.
About 150 million people were under cold weather advisories and extreme cold warnings in the eastern portion of the U.S., with wind chills near zero to single digits in the South and the coldest air mass seen in South Florida since December 1989, said Peter Mullinax, a meteorologist with weather prediction center in College Park, Maryland.
The Tampa-St. Petersburg area in Florida saw snow flurries and temperatures in the 20s in the Panhandle and 30s in South Florida on Sunday morning, Mullinax said. That left cold-stunned iguanas lying prostrate and motionless on the ground. Iguanas in South Florida go dormant in the cold and though they usually wake when temperatures warm, the reptiles can die after more than a day of extreme cold.
The cold also left ice on strawberries and oranges in the state. Farmers in Florida sometimes spray water on fruit trees and berry plants to protect them from the cold.
Meanwhile, the bomb cyclone, known to meteorologists as an intense, rapidly strengthening weather system, contributed to nearly a foot (30 centimeters) of snow in and around Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city. The snowfall represented a top-five snow event all time there, Mullinax said.
Flight cancellations exceeded 2,800 in the U.S. on Saturday, with another 1,500 on Sunday, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking and data company. About 800 of those Sunday cancellations were for flights departing or arriving Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
The storm caused an hours-long mess on Interstate 85 northeast of the city, after a crash left dozens of semitractors and other vehicles backed up into the evening, according to the State Highway Patrol. More than 1,000 traffic collisions and two road deaths were reported, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said Sunday.
“It’s an impressive cold shot, for sure, and there are daily records that are being seen down in the South," Mullinax said.
Snow blanketed the neighborhood of Lee Harrison, an insurance agent in a town outside of Greenville, North Carolina, and he planned to take his three daughters sledding in the backyard.
“We’re not gonna drive anywhere,” Harrison said. “It’s thick enough that I would not feel comfortable driving with our family.”
Also in North Carolina, officials said an unoccupied beachfront house in the Buxton community on Cape Hatteras collapsed in heavy surf Sunday.
More than 110 deaths connected to the wintry weather and storms have been reported around the U.S. since late January. In Tennessee and Mississippi, two states struck last weekend by a storm carrying snow and ice, more than 97,000 customers were still without electricity on Sunday, according to the outage tracking website poweroutage.us. Another 29,000 didn't have power on Sunday in Florida.
Nashville Electric Service said it expects 90% of its customers to have power restored Tuesday, with 99% getting electricity back by next Sunday, two weeks after the ice and snow storm hit.
Gov. Bill Lee said he shared “strong concerns” with leadership of the utility, which has defended its response and said the storm was unprecedented.
Mississippi officials said it was the state’s worst winter storm since 1994. About 80 warming centers were opened and National Guard troops delivered supplies by truck and helicopter.
Mullinax said parts of the Carolinas are going to be “digging out” for several days as they contend with gusty winds and bitterly cold wind chills. Heading into Tuesday and Wednesday, light snow could fall in the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic, from Washington D.C. and possibly into New York City, he said.
Trân Nguyễn in Sacramento, California, Julie Walker in New York and other reporters from around the country contributed.
An iguana stunned by the cold lies immobile on a house deck, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in South Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
As temperatures dipped below freezing, sprinklers spray water over frost sensitive plants covering them with ice to insulate them from the cold at DeWar Nurseries Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Apopka, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Snow falls outside a shopping center in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Alex Taylor, 23, and his dog Daisy, make their way down a snowy hill in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
An iguana stunned by the cold lies immobile on a house deck, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in South Miami, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Icicles cling to a barbed wire fence surrounding an ornamental plant nursery Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Plant City, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Icicles cling to oranges at a grove Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Plant City, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
