Uncertainty continues to surround Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in India

The PCB is still unsure about Pakistan cricket team’s participation in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.

Tensions continue to surround the arrival of the Pakistan cricket team in India. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is still unsure about whether they should be sending the men’s team to India to participate in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.

However, world cricket’s governing body International Cricket Council (ICC) is more confident and has suggested that the 1996 World Champions will be able to compete in the showpiece event in ODI cricket.

The fixtures for the upcoming Cricket World Cup in India were announced by the ICC on Tuesday. The tournament, which will be played between October 5 and November 19, will see hosts India taking on Pakistan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, the ICC also rejected PCB’s request to not schedule their matches in Chennai and Bengaluru against specific teams.

The Pakistan team didn’t want to play against Afghanistan on a spin-friendly track at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai and they also didn’t want to take on Australia in Bengaluru. Pakistan will face hosts India on October 15 and they will face Australia and Afghanistan on October 20 and October 23 at the pre-decided venues mentioned above.

Soon after the announcement, the PCB made it clear that its participation in the ODI World Cup will be subject to government clearance.

“Our participation in the World Cup and us playing in Ahmedabad on October 15 or in Mumbai if we qualify for semi-finals will all be dependent on government clearance,” said a PCB official.

The PCB official also mentioned that the Pakistan government hasn’t issued an NOC to the cricket team to travel to India yet. Since it is a sensitive issue given the diplomatic tension between the two countries as well as the security threat, the Board can only move forward after getting clear directives from its government.

“We have already informed the ICC that our participation in the tournament or any issues over venues is linked to firstly the PCB getting clearance from the government to travel to India,” the official said. Pakistan have a signed participation agreement to compete and the world governing body “100% expects them to be there and has had no indications to the contrary”.

“All members have to abide by the rules and the laws of their country and we respect that. But we’re confident Pakistan will be in India for the men’s cricket World Cup,” an ICC spokesperson told PTI.

The last time Pakistan played in India was during the 2016 T20 World Cup. Given that the teams no longer engage in bilaterals, they only play against each other during ICC tournaments and in the Asia Cup.

The ICC not entertaining Pakistan’s request to relocate two matches was on expected lines as it usually addresses concerns over venues on potential security threat and not on cricketing grounds.