Dale Steyn tears open Pakistan’s World Cup scars vs India

Former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn reacted to Pakistan’s threat to boycott the match against India during the T20 World Cup 2026. Steyn said that he heard claims that Pakistan wanted to avoid losing points by not facing India, given their repeated losses to arch-rivals in World Cup tournaments over the years.

Pakistan had threatened to skip their match against India. After several days of uncertainty, they reversed their decision and agreed to play. The India-Pakistan clash will take place at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15. Pakistan changed their stance after an emergency meeting with the ICC.

I Thought It Might Make Sense - Dale Steyn on Pakistan’s Threat to Boycott India Clash

Dale Steyn stated that some people believed Pakistan wanted to boycott and give up points because they did not want to lose to India. Steyn stated that he did not believe this was the real reason and called the theory wrong.

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"I heard people say Pakistan pulled out because it is an easy group to kind of make it through, so they can surrender the points because they did not want to lose to India," Dale Steyn said on AB de Villiers' YouTube channel.

"That was one of the theories. I heard that. That was absolute crap. But at the same time, I thought it might make sense, because they have lost to India in every World Cup event in the last I don't know how many years," Dale Steyn added.

Don’t Recall an Exciting Game Between India and Pakistan - Dale Steyn's ex-teammate AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers shared his view on the hype around India–Pakistan matches ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. He said that despite the build-up, the games often leave him disappointed because they rarely turn into close contests.

The former South Africa star added that the only recent match he found truly exciting was the T20 World Cup 2022 clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where Virat Kohli played a memorable unbeaten knock of 82 off 53 balls to guide India to a tense chase.

"I sometimes feel those games, they hype it up so much, that I end up being disappointed, except for that one in Australia, when it came pretty close, when India chased down in MCG. I don't recall an exciting game between the two nations in a long time," AB de Villiers said.

Pakistan Top Group A After Back-to-Back Wins in T20 World Cup 2026

Pakistan opened their T20 World Cup 2026 campaign with a tight win against the Netherlands at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. Chasing 148, they stayed calm in the final overs and finished the match with a three-wicket victory. Faheem Ashraf scored an unbeaten 29 off 11 balls in the death overs.

They defeated the United States of America by 32 runs at the same venue on Tuesday, February 10. With two wins from two matches, Pakistan are at the top of the Group A table in the tournament.

Notably, Pakistan have struggled against India in the T20 World Cup, losing seven of their eight meetings. A boycott would have handed India two points and hurt Pakistan’s net run rate, but Pakistan chose to play on. India also started their campaign with a 29-run win over the USA.

Also read: Bangladesh to use India vs Pakistan mega clash to end controversy with BCCI