Former Indian batter Rohan Gavaskar expressed his delight for the cricket fans after Pakistan government decided to withdraw their boycott threat of India match at the T20 World Cup 2026. Earlier, Pakistan government gave permission to the cricket team to travel to Sri Lanka but said the side won’t take the field against arch-rivals India.

However, after discussions with ICC, PCB decided to withdraw their boycott threat and said the much-anticipated will go on as planned.

Rohan Gavaskar said on Cricbuzz, “All of us thought this game would go on, and it’s a belated Valentine’s Day present to the fans of both teams. It is still a rivalry and a big game that gets the juices flowing for the players and the fans. Now, when it gets the juices flowing, you set alarms on the phone, and everyone is talking about it, that tells you it’s a rivalry.”

On the other hand, India’s veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane said the match was always going to happen.

He said, “It was anyway going to happen. This was just Pakistan playing as they wanted something. It was always about the revenue for them. India-Pakistan is a very big game even though Pakistan are not a great team like they used to be in the past. The game is crucial for the fans, players, and the broadcasters. So I am not surprised that they’ve backed out.”

Meanwhile, India has a 7-1 record against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup and Rohan Gavaskar said Team India has had a upper hand.

“In terms of performance over the last while, India has had the upper hand. But it’s not to say Pakistan can’t beat them. Yet, if India play to their potential and bring their A-game, they are a far superior side at the moment. But Abhishek Sharma could get out on the first ball, or he can score 170 to 180, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We scored 270 against New Zealand but collapsed against the USA. So on a bad day anything can happen,” said Gavaskar (via the aforementioned source).

India will take on Namibia at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on February 12.