- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
This will be third time after 1996 and 2011 that Pakistan will visit India for the 50-over world cup.
By: Shubham Ghosh
PAKISTAN has decided to send its national cricket team to India for this year’s 50-over cricket world cup after a lot of deliberations.
The country’s foreign office on Sunday (6) said in a statement that Pakistan has “consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics”.
“It has, therefore, decided to send its cricket team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023,” it added.
The long-awaited decision comes weeks after doubts about the participation of the 1992 champions in the marquee tournament, as Islamabad delayed approving the team’s visit to the arch-rivals’ soil citing security concerns.
However, the concerns were still there, the foreign office said. It added in the statement that Pakistani authorities continued to have “deep concerns” about the security of the national cricket team in India.
“We are conveying these concerns to the International Cricket Council (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.
It added, “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-a-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its cricket team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup.“
India refused to send its national team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup tournament starting on August 31. The tournament, which was originally set to be held in Pakistan only, will be co-hosted by Sri Lanka now with India playing its games in the island-nation, including those against Pakistan.
Pakistan initially made the visit by its team to India for the quadrennial tournament conditional on the Indian team’s visit to its soil for the Asia Cup.
However, an agreement was reached after Pakistan gave its consent to hosting the Asia Cup tournament on the basis of a hybrid model.
The Pakistan Cricket Board still said in June that it would still require clearance from the country’s government for touring India.
Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a committee led by foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to discuss the matter.
Recently, Pakistan’s inter-provincial coordination minister Ehsan-ur-Rehman Mazari told Dawn.com after a meeting of the committee it had been decided that concerns regarding the team’s security would be raised with the cricket’s international governing body.
Pakistan last visited India in 2016 when they played the T20 world cup.
In the 50-over world cup, Pakistan have toured India twice before, in 1996 and 2011, and both occasions they were beaten by India in knock-outs.
This time, the two arch-rivals would meet in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat on October 14, a date which was changed from October 15 owing to local Navratri festivals.
Pakistan kick off their campaign against qualifiers Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6 in the second match after the tournament begins a day before.
