Sports
India grants visas to Pakistani squad for World Cup 2023
The International Cricket Council has confirmed the development regarding issuance of visas to the Pakistani squad.
Lahore: The prevailing uncertainty regarding Pakistan's participation in the highly anticipated ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 has been resolved, as India has now issued visas to the Pakistan cricket team.
This development was confirmed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday.
The confirmation from the ICC followed earlier complaints about delays in the visa issuance process, which had raised concerns about the team's readiness for the prestigious event to be held in India.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had expressed its concerns to the ICC, citing visa delays that had disrupted the team's preparation for the tournament hosted across the border.
An ICC spokesperson informed Reuters that "visas have been issued to the Pakistan team," providing assurance that the matter had been resolved. The PCB spokesperson, Umar Farooq, also confirmed to Reuters that they had been instructed to collect their passports from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
It is worth noting that India and Pakistan have suspended bilateral cricket matches due to strained political relations between the neighboring countries. They only compete against each other in multi-team tournaments such as the World Cup and Asia Cup.
In a strongly-worded statement, Umar Farooq decried the "inequitable treatment" experienced by the Pakistan team, who are scheduled to arrive in India on Wednesday.
Farooq stated, "There has been an extraordinary delay in getting clearance and securing Indian visas for the Pakistan team for the ICC World Cup." He continued, "We have written to ICC raising our concerns about inequitable treatment towards Pakistan and reminding them of these obligations towards the World Cup."
The delay had caused significant uncertainty for the Pakistan team ahead of the major tournament.
Pakistan is set to play two warm-up matches before commencing their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6. The highly anticipated clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan is scheduled for October 14 in Ahmedabad.
It's noteworthy that India declined to tour Pakistan for the Asia Cup, which was instead held in Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for ICC World Cup 2023:
Babar Azam (c)
Abdullah Shafique
Fakhar Zaman
Imam-ul-Haq
Iftikhar Ahmed
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
Shadab Khan
Mohammad Nawaz
Usama Mir
Haris Rauf
M Wasim Jnr
Hasan Ali
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Saud Shakeel
Salman Ali Agha
Travelling Reserves:
Mohammad Haris
Abrar Ahmed
Zaman Khan
Pakistan's Warm-Up Matches Schedule:
September 29 — vs New Zealand in Hyderabad
October 3 — vs Australia in Hyderabad
Pakistan's ICC World Cup 2023 Schedule:
October 6 — vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 — vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 — vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 — vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 — vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 — vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 — vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 — vs New Zealand in Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 — vs England in Kolkata
Day matches will commence at 10:00 am Pakistan Standard Time (PST), while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30 pm (PST).
Should Pakistan qualify for the semi-finals, their match will be held in Kolkata. If India reaches the semi-finals, their venue will be Mumbai unless they face Pakistan, in which case the match will be played in Kolkata.