Pakistan team leave for India tomorrow to play World Cup 2023

Lahore: Pakistan cricket team will leave for India tomorrow after Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) protest with the International Cricket Council (ICC) forced the Indian government to surrender and issue visas to team Pakistan for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (WC) due to start on October 5.

The team will fly with Emirates from Lahore to Dubai on their way to Hyderabad, India.

In this regard, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has e-mailed the Pakistani team members, asking them to submit in their passports. 

All of the players' and the officials' travel documents for the tour have been delivered to the PCB.

Before starting their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Oct. 6, Pakistan will play two warm-up matches.

The first warm-up match will be against New Zealand, which will be played on September 29.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to clash in Ahmadabad on October 14.

India had been delaying the issuance of visas to team Pakistan which had led to a lot of anxiety in the Pakistani camp.

This was despite the fact that in July, at its annual conference in Durban, South Africa, the ICC had been told by the BCCI that visas for the Pakistan contingent would be issued on time.

The row over visa had cast a shadow of doubt over Pakistan's participation in the tournament.

The PCB promptly alerted the ICC about the visa issue in writing that there existed a prior agreement between the two countries on ensuring timely issuance of visas.

It is worth-reminding here that India had declined to tour Pakistan for the Asia Cup, which was played between Aug. 30 and Sept. 17, and played their matches in Sri Lanka instead.

India and Pakistan had suspended bilateral cricket, thanks to a soured political relation between the neighbours, and play each other only in multi-team events like the World Cup and Asia Cup.