Pakistan cricket team gets government clearance for World Cup in India

Pakistan cricket team will be travelling to India for the ICC ODI World Cup 2023, it was confirmed on Sunday after the Pakistan government gave clearance to the national side for the mega event. The Cricket World Cup will take place from 5 October to 19 November and Pakistan are scheduled to play India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 15 October. That match is expected to be shifted to 14 October due to security reasons as it marks the start of Navratri. An official confirmation on it is still pending. Pakistan’s foreign ministry said sports should not be mixed with politics. Read | BCCI, thank you for embarking on fixing stadiums, but the schedule mess is a cruel joke “Pakistan has consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “It has, therefore, decided to send its cricket team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Pakistan believes that the state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations.”

“Pakistan’s decision shows its constructive and responsible approach vis-à-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its cricket team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.”

The foreign ministry also added that despite giving a green light to the team, Pakistan has “deep concerns” about the security of the cricket team and it would relay them to ICC and the Indian authorities. “We expect that full safety and security of Pakistan cricket team will be ensured during its visit to India,” the statement also said without saying whether the team will play the marquee fixture in Ahmedabad. The plan to move the India-Pakistan game to avoid clash with Navaratri created a knock-on effect. It meant the 1992 World Cup winners would play Sri Lanka on October 12 and not October 10. That change was accepted by the PCB giving them more time to prepare. Pakistan government’s latest decision brings to an end a long drawn saga which began last year after former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja said the national team would not travel to India if Men in Blue don’t travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup. Asia Cup 2023 will be played on a hybrid model in August-September with India playing their matches in Sri Lanka. In further World Cup schedule challenges, Cricket Association of Bengal then requested BCCI to move Pakistan-England from November 12 to November 11 to avoid clash with the festival of Kali Puja. It is still not clear if these requests are going to be entertained with the BCCI yet to announce the start of ticket sales. The World Cup gets underway on October 5 with defending champions England taking on runners-up New Zealand and culminates on November 19.