India grants visas to Pakistani squad for World Cup 2023

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.