Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn reacted to Pakistan’s threat to boycott the match against India during the T20 World Cup 2026. Steyn said he had heard claims that Pakistan wanted to avoid losing points by not facing India, as it had been losing consistently to its arch-rivals in World Cup tournaments over the years.
Pakistan had threatened not to play the match against India. After several days of uncertainty, he reversed his decision and agreed to play. The match between India and Pakistan will be held on February 15 at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Pakistan changed its stance after an emergency meeting with the ICC.
I thought it might mean something – Dale Steyn on Pakistan’s threat to boycott India conflict
Dale Steyn said that some people believed that Pakistan wanted to boycott and drop points because they did not want to lose to India. Stan said he did not believe this was the real reason and dismissed the theory as false.
“I’ve heard people saying that Pakistan withdrew because it’s an easy group, so they might as well surrender points because they didn’t want to lose to India,” Dale Steyn said on AB de Villiers’ YouTube channel.
Dale Steyn said, “That was one of the theories. I’ve heard it. It was absolute nonsense. But at the same time, I thought it might make sense, because they’ve lost to India in every World Cup competition over the last goddamn many years.”
Don’t miss an exciting game between India and Pakistan – Dale Steyn’s former teammate AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers shares his views on the promotion of India-Pakistan matches ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. He said that despite preparation, games often let him down as they rarely turned into close contests.
The former South Africa star said the only recent match he found really exciting was the T20 World Cup 2022 clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Virat Kohli played a memorable unbeaten inning of 82 off 53 balls to help India chase down the tense target.
AB de Villiers said, “I feel sometimes those games, they blow it out so much, that I get disappointed, except that match in Australia, when it came very close, when India chased at the MCG. I don’t remember any exciting game between the two countries for a long time.”
Pakistan tops Group A after two consecutive wins in T20 World Cup 2026
Pakistan started their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a hard-fought win against the Netherlands at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Chasing 148 runs, they remained calm in the final overs and finished the match with a three-wicket win. Faheem Ashraf scored unbeaten 29 runs in 11 balls in the death overs.
They defeated the United States by 32 runs at the same venue on Tuesday, 10 February. With two wins from two matches, Pakistan top the Group A table in the tournament.
Notably, Pakistan has struggled against India in the T20 World Cup, losing seven of their eight encounters. A boycott would have given India two points and affected Pakistan’s net run rate, but Pakistan continued to play. India also started their campaign with a 29-run win over America.
Also read: Bangladesh will use India vs Pakistan mega clash to end dispute with BCCI
