NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, has questioned Pakistan's decision to go back on its earlier stand of boycotting the T20 World Cup match against India, suggesting that the move lacked consistency.

In an interaction with ANI, Sharma said Pakistan appeared to have reconsidered its position after understanding the sporting and commercial impact of not playing India. He noted that such reversals have been seen before whenever fixtures involving India are involved.

"This was Pakistan's drama, which is what they always do. They supported Bangladesh, then pushed them aside, and now they have realised how much they will lose if they don't play against India. So, these kinds of things are expected from Pakistan," Rajmukar Sharma said.

This followed a directive from the Government of Pakistan on Monday, instructing the national team to play its scheduled ICC T20 World Cup match against defending champions India on February 15 in Colombo.

"In view of the outcomes achieved in multilateral discussions, as well as the request of friendly countries, the Government of Pakistan hereby directs the Pakistan National Cricket Team to take the field on February 15, 2026, for its scheduled fixture in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup," the Pakistan government stated in a press release.

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"...this decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the spirit of cricket, and to support the continuity of this global sport in all participating nations," the statement from Pakistan government added.

Earlier, Pakistan had announced the boycott to show solidarity with Bangladesh after their request to shift matches from India to Sri Lanka over security concerns was rejected by the ICC, following which Bangladesh were replaced by Scotland.