The post appeared moments after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reiterated that the Salman Ali Agha-led side would not take the field against India in their Group A clash at the 2026 T20 World Cup next week in Colombo.

Nazrul publicly thanked Pakistan for what he described as solidarity with Bangladesh after Pakistan’s decision to forfeit the match against India.

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“Thank you, Pakistan,” Nazrul wrote on Facebook. “Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his country has decided to boycott the match against India in protest of Bangladesh being excluded from the T20 World Cup.”

Pakistan was the only member board to back Bangladesh’s concerns during last month’s ICC meeting. Bangladesh had refused to travel to India for the group-stage matches, citing “security concerns”, following a government decision taken in the aftermath of the BCCI’s January 3 directive to Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their squad.

During their standoff against the ICC, Bangladesh had approached Pakistan for diplomatic and cricket support, which was followed by PCB even writing a letter to the governing council supporting BCB and even offering Pakistan to host Bangladesh’s group games in the World Cup.

After the ICC rejected BCB’s plea and subsequently removed Bangladesh from the tournament, replacing them with Scotland, Pakistan took a firm stand against playing India.

Sharif’s remarks in Islamabad on Thursday marked the first official statement from either the Pakistan government or the PCB explaining the rationale behind the boycott.

“We have taken a very clear stand on the T20 World Cup that we won’t play the match against India because there should be no politics on the sports field,” Sharif said. “We should stand by Bangladesh, and we believe this is an appropriate decision. We are with Bangladesh.”

The ICC, however, is still awaiting an official communication from the PCB before initiating any disciplinary process, of which Pakistan was informed after the government’s social media post last Sunday.