Ahead of the Pakistan cricket team’s arrival in India for the ODI World Cup 2023, a delegation from across the border will be doing security checks at the venues where Babar Azam’s men are set to play in the upcoming global show-piece. Once the security delegation gives green light, only then the Pakistani team will travel to India.
Ahead of the marquee tournament, which is slated to begin on 5 October, ICC unveiled the fixture and the final schedule for the World Cup earlier this week, during an event hosted in Mumbai.
As per a report in PTI, an official source in the Inter-Provincial Coordination (Sports) Ministry revealed that the Pakistan government will plan a final date for the security delegation’s arrival in India, after having talks with the foreign and interior ministry. The delegation could depart from across the border once the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board assumes office after the Eid holidays.
Zaka Ashraf is dubbed to be the front-runner for the new chief of PCB, taking over from Najam Sethi.
“The security delegation will go with representation from the PCB to inspect the venues where Pakistan will play and also the security and other arrangements made for them in the World Cup,” the official was quoted as saying by PTI.
Pakistan are set to play all of their group games in just five venues, namely – Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, with the marquee clash against Team India slated to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium on October 15.
The official also confirmed that it’s a standard procedure for the security delegation to inspect venues.
“Before any tour to India it is standard practice for the cricket board to seek permission from the government which normally sends a delegation to India,” the official added.
“The delegation will interact with the officials there and discuss and inspect with them the security and other arrangements for our players, officials, fans and media, who will go for the tournament,” he informed further.
The official further confirmed that if the security delegation have any concerns they will report the same to BCCI and ICC.
Furthermore, according to a source in the PCB, when Pakistan last travelled to India for the T20 World Cup, the same procedure had been followed, and on the recommendation from the security delegation, India’s fixture against their neighbours was shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata.
Once the Pakistan government will give green light after the security delegation’s report, only then will Babar Azam and Co. travel to India.
“This is not unusual and it is standard procedure for all tours to India. Even in other sports the respective national federations have to get clearance from the government to send their teams to India for any competition,” the PCB source added.
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