Pakistan faced a foot-in-mouth moment after it had to swallow its boycott threats and agree to play arch-rival India in the ICC World Cup. While the decision was framed as protecting the spirit of cricket, it was the harsh financial realities facing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that led to the U-turn. Pakistan has already faced embarrassment on the global stage as it provoked Bangladesh to opt out of the tournament but chose to stay in it itself.
Pakistan gave the green light to the scheduled match with India, realising it would be hurt the most by a boycott. “In view of the outcomes achieved in multilateral discussions, as well as the requests of friendly countries, the Government of Pakistan hereby directs the Pakistan National Cricket Team to take the field for its scheduled fixture,” Islamabad said in a statement. Kamran Abbasi, UK-based writer and editor, said boycott would be far more damaging for Pakistan than for India. “India will feel the pinch in its pocket. But that pinch will only be a pinch. Pakistan will lose valuable revenue and the points,” Abbassi said.
Notably, Pakistani media had hailed the Islamabad government’s earlier decision to boycott the match against India, calling it a strong and serious stand taken. Pakistan however reconsidered its stance after the International Cricket Council (ICC) warned the PCB of long-term consequences, including a potential loss of USD 38 million in revenue. “The ICC 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,” ICC said.
Refusing to play with India meant huge potential loss of money, which PCB could not afford, said Pakistani sports journalist Brashna Kasi. “The marquee encounter does not fund India’s cricket at a large scale, but it subsidises the ecosystem in which Pakistan cricket survives. Any financial loss to the ICC would not have impacted BCCI as strongly as it would have Pakistan,” Kasi said. “To risk that revenue for a dispute that was not even Pakistan’s own would have been strategically naive.”
Interestingly, Pakistan had threatened to boycott the Asia Cup in 2025 after Indian players refused to shake hands with Pakistani ones against the backdrop of border tensions between the two countries. However, Pakistan backtracked due to possible elimination from the tournament and the subsequent loss of revenue. “Otherwise, Pakistan cricket would have suffered great damage due to a boycott of the Asia Cup,” said former PCN chairman Najam Sethi. “Had the PCB stood on its boycott, the ICC could have penalised Pakistan, the board would have lost USD 15-16 million in revenue, and even foreign players could have been barred from joining the Pakistan Super League.”
Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said Pakistan had no choice but to play the ongoing ICC World Cup, thanks to the financial stakes involved. “I think they realised it really late that the tournament can go on even without them, but not without India. They were saying a lot of things, that they support Bangladesh and won’t play. Do that, that is their idea. We had said earlier that they would certainly take a U-Turn and play. Financial loss is too high and when it comes to money, they will come pleading to play,” Singh said.
Interestingly, Pakistan sought a bilateral series with India during the recent negotiations with the ICC. This raised eyebrows over Pakistan’s seemingly paradoxical stance. The answer lies in the PCB’s dire need for revenue, which it can reliably secure only by playing against India. PCB is grappling with financial problems and discrepancies, which include revenue risks, audit-flagged mismanagement and media rights issues. In 2025, an auditor found financial irregularities worth PKR 6 billion regarding problems with sponsorship, media rights, unauthorised and inordinate expenses.
Against such a backdrop, Pakistan cannot afford to attract the ire of the ICC over non-compliance. It does need revenue from the ICC to meet even basic expenditures such as subsidising the domestic events, salaries and administration expenses, perks for employees. “Basically, if the ICC decides to penalise Pakistan for not playing India, the PCB could take a big hit financially as the ICC share in the current financial cycle comes to approximately 40 billion PKR,” an insider said.