'Boycott Circus Doesn't Help': Pakistan Handed Brutal Wake-Up Call After Humiliating India Defeat In T20 World Cup 2026

A buoyant India delivered a hammer blow to Pakistan's T20 World Cup hopes with a 61-run win over Pakistan on Sunday. Ishan Kishan's explosive 77 off 40 balls proved to be more than enough as the men In Blue made it 8-1 against their opponents in the T20 World Cups and advanced to the Super 8 stage.

Michael Clarke Handed brutal Reality Check To Pakistan

The Pakistan government had initially decided to boycott the India game in the T20 World Cup and instructed its cricket team not to participate in the match. The move came in the aftermath of Bangladesh's ouster from the T20 World Cup after they refused to travel to India, citing security concerns.

But ICC kick-started back-channel discussions with PCB and even informed them of a potential lawsuit from the broadcasters, as forfeiting the match would have resulted in a loss of millions. Michael Clarke believes the boycott drama didn't really help Pakistan's cause in the T20 World Cup.

On the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, he said, “I expected India to win. It has been a bit of a circus in regards to Pakistan playing the tournament but not playing the India game. So from a player’s perspective, it doesn’t help, but they were outperformed. India is a much better team than Pakistan in this format and have been for a while now.”

Also Read: Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar Join Ex-International Cricket Captains in Plea for Improved Prison Conditions for Imran Khan

India Humilated Pakistan Again In T20 World Cup

Despite all the hype, Pakistan's spinners failed to restrict the Indian batters on a pitch that provided ample assistance for the spinners. Salman Ali Agha decided to rack up the team with seven spinners and the gamble seemed to have paid off after the Pakistan captain removed Abhishek Sharma in the very first over.

But Ishan Kishan went on all guns blazing and set up the stage with 10 fours and 3 sixes. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav also chipped in with a handful of contributions and the Indian bowlers did the rest of the job.

Also Read: Canada's Yuvraj Samra Etches Memorable T20 World Cup Milestone With Composed Batting Against New Zealand