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While the government has decided not to play the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup group match against India in Colombo on February 15, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the new line-up for the Women’s Asia Rising Stars Cup to be held on February 15 in Bangkok, Thailand, where Pakistan will face India.
Like the 2026 T20 World Cup, the Women’s Rising Stars Asia Cup will also feature India versus Pakistan. PCB announced their full squad ahead of the match and the two teams are expected to face off as per the schedule.
Pakistan prepares to face India
It is worth noting that on the same day that the government announced that it will miss the match against India in Colombo on February 15, the PCB announced the women’s football team squad for the Asia Rising Stars Cup. PCB said in a press release that they are in the same group as India and said the match will be held on February 15 at 2 pm local time or 12:30 pm IST. To this end, PCB announced the lineup of the women’s A team on February 1.
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Pakistan A team is in Group A with India A team, United Arab Emirates and Nepal, while Group B is composed of Bangladesh A team, Sri Lanka A team, Malaysia team and the host team Thailand. The top two teams in each group will advance to the semi-finals after playing three games each. “PCB said in an official press release.
PCB releases official statement
The date the team announced makes their decision to “boycott” even more interesting. On the same day, the national government directed the men’s national cricket team to boycott the much-anticipated match in Colombo.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has approved the participation of the Pakistan Cricket Team in the 2026 ICC World T20; however, the Pakistan Cricket Team will not be allowed to participate in the match against India scheduled for February 15, 2026,” the government wrote on its official social media account.
Like the men’s team, will the women’s cricket team boycott the match against India? So far, there are no signs of this. According to ESPNcricinfo, the Pakistan women’s football team has not received any instructions regarding the fate of this match against India A and their preparations are proceeding normally.
Why hypocrisy?
The Asian Rising Stars Cup is hosted by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), with Mohsin Naqvi serving as the Chairman of the ACC and also the Chairman of the PCB. Naqvi is believed to be a powerful influence behind the government’s decision to boycott the Indian team’s matches at the 2026 T20 World Cup. They will boycott the match in protest against the ICC’s decision to expel Bangladesh from the tournament.
If Pakistan wants to boycott the 2026 T20 World Cup against India out of patriotism, then why are they preparing to play India in 2026? this Asian Cup Rising Star? The problem still exists.
