Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali blamed the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the T20 World Cup 2026 brawl involving Bangladesh, Pakistan and the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Pakistan government announced on Sunday that its team will not be participating in the India vs Pakistan match on February 15.

“BCCI made a mistake by releasing Mustafizur Rahman early from the IPL. They could have let the matter cool down before making the announcement. If they did it after the World Cup, we wouldn’t be here,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.

He added that it was after this that Bangladesh refused to travel to India, forcing Pakistan to step down. Ali further claimed that if the match was not played, it would “damage cricket and the future of the sport”.

Pakistan risks huge financial losses and could even face ICC sanctions if it eventually fails to play India. Commenting on this, Basit said, “The Pakistan (cricket) board has no money problem. The government has asked them to take this call, and then they would also give the money to PCB.”

He, however, is not alone in blaming the BCCI for the ongoing turmoil. Former ICC head of communications Sami-ul-Hasan Burney said the BCCI’s handling of Mustafizur Rahman’s IPL elimination caused a chain reaction that led to Bangladesh pulling out of the tournament and Pakistan deciding to boycott their match against India.

“Things could have been easily avoided if those responsible had been more careful and avoided public statements about the withdrawal of a Bangladeshi player from an IPL franchise,” Burney told PTI.

He added: “There was no need to say it publicly. The board could have privately ordered the franchise to release the player, and the matter would have ended there. Instead, an error in judgment turned the January 3 announcement into a trigger.”

T20 World Cup 2026 fiasco explained

Last month, IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released Rahman from their team following a BCCI directive. The move sparked outrage in Bangladesh, leading to a ban on IPL television broadcasts and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) urging the ICC to move its T20 World Cup group matches outside India.

After that, the ICC showed Bangladesh the door and replaced it with Scotland. After that, Pakistan stepped in and decided to boycott the IND vs PAK match on 15 February.

As of now, the match between India and Pakistan will not take place on February 15, and India is expected to get 2 points after a toss up.