Top ICC Official From India Spotted Watching Pakistan's T20 WC Match, Sparks Buzz

The International Cricket Council (ICC)’s CEO, Sanjog Gupta, was spotted watching the first match of the 2026 T20 World Cup between Pakistan and the Netherlands in Colombo.

While it is not uncommon for the top officials of a world body to attend matches, Gupta is also one of the ICC members leading the negotiations with Pakistan over the many controversies of the last few weeks. He was also said to be ICC’s main man when Bangladesh had refused to travel to India for the competition, citing security reasons, and was ultimately replaced by Scotland.

Gupta was also leading the ICC’s party in Milan recently for discussions with the International Olympic Committee, alongside chairman Jay Shah.

It sparked buzz on the internet with many believing that

Gupta was there to speak to members of the Pakistan squad directly. The Pakistan government has ordered the team to boycott the January 15 match between India and Pakistan, the biggest money-making match for the entire sport, in solidarity with Bangladesh. While the ICC has threatened sanctions, it needs the match to happen to avert the losses.

The Pakistan players have left it to their government to make the call, while India have said they’d travel for the match as planned, even as ‘back-channel’ discussions go on behind the scenes.

Current situation

According to a latest report from PTI, the ICC has sought a detailed explanation from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over its attempt to invoke the ‘Force Majeure’ clause to skip the match against India while continuing to play the rest of the tournament. The PCB cited a Pakistani government directive, issued via a tweet, banning the February 15 fixture in Colombo.

However, the ICC has questioned how force majeure can apply selectively and has asked the PCB to prove that it made genuine efforts to mitigate the situation, explore alternatives, or seek exemptions before opting out. The world body has outlined the strict conditions under which force majeure can be triggered and warned of potential contractual damages and disciplinary action if the claim is found invalid.

The ICC stressed that selective participation undermines the integrity of a global tournament. There is, however, a glimmer of hope as the PCB has entered structured discussions with the ICC, similar to the process followed with Bangladesh.