By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will send its cricket team to India for the 2023 men’s one-day international World Cup, ending months of uncertainty over the country’s participation due to security concerns, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
“Pakistan believes that the state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations,” the 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.”
The foreign ministry said Pakistan’s decision shows “its constructive and responsible approach vis-a-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its cricket team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup”.
The statement said Pakistan had ‘deep concerns’ about the safety of its players in India and had conveyed them to the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Indian authorities.
“We are conveying these concerns to the ICC and the Indian authorities. We expect that full safety and security of the Pakistan cricket team will be ensured during its visit to India,” the statement read.
The decision came after weeks of speculation over whether Pakistan would take part in the World Cup, which is scheduled to run from Oct. 5 to Nov. 19. The World Cup will feature 10 teams playing a round-robin format followed by semi-finals and a final. England are the defending champions, having won the title in 2019.
Pakistan’s participation in the tournament was first put in doubt following a row over the hosting of the Asia Cup, for which India had refused to send its cricket team to the country.
In turn, Pakistan made its cricket team’s visit to India for World Cup conditional on the Indian team’s visit to the neighbouring country for the Asia Cup.
A truce was eventually called after Pakistan agreed to host the Asia Cup in September on the basis of a hybrid model.
Then in June this year, after the schedule for the World Cup was announced, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that it would still need government clearance for any tour to India, including World Cup match venues.
“The PCB requires the government of Pakistan’s clearance for any tour to India, including the match venues,” PCB Communications Director Sami Ul Hasan had said in a statement.
“We are liaising with our government for guidance. This position is consistent with what we had told the ICC a couple of weeks ago when they shared with us the draft schedule and sought our feedback,” he had added.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had constituted a committee led by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to deliberate on the matter.
Following today’s approval, Pakistan will now be playing in India for the first time in seven years.
Pakistan has not played a bilateral series with India since 2012-13 and the two teams have only met in ICC events.
The World Cup schedule has been hit by several delays and tweaks. Pakistan’s fixture against India was brought forward by a day to avoid a clash with the Hindu festival of Navaratri. That created a knock-on effect, with Pakistan’s earlier game against Sri Lanka on Oct. 12 moved to Oct. 10 to give them enough time to prepare, arrangements that the PCB agreed to.
The Cricket Association of Bengal had requested the BCCI to have Pakistan’s game against England moved from Nov. 12 to Nov. 11, to avoid a clash with another Hindu festival, Kali Puja.
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