Pakistan to England: List of teams who forfeited matches in ICC events

In a major turn of events ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 starting later this week, Pakistan has announced that the country’s cricket team will forfeit its group-stage match against India, which is scheduled to take place in Colombo on February 15.

 

Cricketing fans and experts alike have been calling out the move, and the ICC has sent a strong message to Pakistan cricket to either reconsider its decision or face long-term consequences.

 

While Pakistan’s move came as a surprise for many, it is not the first time a team has decided to have selective participation in an ICC event. From Australia to England, several other teams have previously done the same for one reason or another. In this article, we take a look at some such instances where teams forfeited selective matches during an ICC event. 

 

Australia, West Indies deny travelling to Sri Lanka

The first-ever instance of teams forfeiting matches in an ICC event was in 1996, when not just one but two teams — Australia and West Indies — refused to travel to Sri Lanka to play their group-stage matches of the ICC Cricket World Cup.

 

However, their reason was considered justified as Sri Lanka was in the middle of a civil war at the time, and teams genuinely had security concerns while travelling to the country. Notably, Australia and Sri Lanka did play each other in the tournament final, where Sri Lanka beat the Aussies to win their first and only ICC Cricket World Cup trophy.

Zimbabwe and Kenya won by forfeit

The second time teams decided to have selective participation in an ICC event was in 2003, during the Cricket World Cup, which was being co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

 

The England side decided not to play their match against Zimbabwe due to political tensions between the two countries, while New Zealand refused to travel to Kenya due to a bombing in the city of Mombasa months prior to the date of the match. Both teams wanted to play their matches at a neutral venue, but the ICC refused their request and handed Zimbabwe and Kenya walkover wins.

Teams forfeiting whole tournament

There are also instances where teams decided to boycott the ICC tournaments altogether. In 2009, Zimbabwe pulled out of the ICC T20 World Cup, which was hosted by England, due to the same reason. England forfeited their match in the 2003 World Cup.

 

In 2006, Australia pulled out of the ICC U19 World Cup, which was being hosted by Bangladesh, due to security concerns, and in 2026, Bangladesh pulled out of the ICC T20 World Cup event after refusing to play their matches in India due to security reasons.

Why can Pakistan face sanctions?

In all the above instances, teams proved that they had security concerns about their visit to the respective countries to take part in the event. However, Pakistan is not scheduled to travel to India as part of the ICC–PCB–BCCI deal earlier in 2025, where it was decided that the two teams would play all their matches at a neutral venue. Pakistan’s matches in the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 are scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka.

 

The ICC is strictly against any political influence in the decision-making of cricket boards, and the boycott of a selective match is seen as disrespectful to the ethics of ICC events, the reason why the ICC has asked Pakistan to reconsider its decision in the coming days.