BCCI Informs ICC That Indian Government Has Agreed To Issue Visas For Pakistan Cricketers For T20I WC
Apr 17, 2021 at 9:24 PM
BCCI has informed the apex council that the Indian government has agreed to issue visas to the Pakistan cricketers for the T20 World Cup which is scheduled to begin in October this year.
Babar Azam-led Pakistan cricket team will have no difficulty in travelling to India for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in October as the government is set to grant visas to the players from the neighbouring nation.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah Informs Apex Council About Government’s Decision To Give Visas To Pakistan Payers
It has been learnt that BCCI secretary Jay Shah has informed the Apex Council about the government’s decision on giving visas to the Pakistan players.
“The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear,” an Apex Council member told PTI.
“It will be decided in due course of time. However we had promised ICC that it will be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting.”
India and Pakistan have not played the Test series for more than 14 years. As far as bilateral series in ODIs and T20Is are concerned, it has been over eight years. They face off each other during ICC events and Asia Cup. India and Pakistan faced off each other last in a bilateral series in December 2012 in India(3 ODIs, 2 T20Is) while the last Test between the 2 nations was in November 2007 (3 Tests in India).
The last time the Pakistan team played on Indian soil was in the T20 championship in March 2016, two months after the Pathankot attack. On that occasion, the Home Ministry gave multi-city visas to Pakistani fans who had tickets for the matches. Before that, BCCI granted visas to Pakistani fans for the 2011 World Cup semi-final at Mohali. The 2019 World Cup in England was when the two teams last met at a neutral venue. India won that match by 89 runs.
PCB Chief Ehsan Mani Confirms ICC Told Pakistan That They Will Get Written Confirmation About Issuance Of Visas By The End Of Next Month
Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ehsan Mani had said that the team would be going to India for T20 World Cup with the full protocol or the tournament be shifted to some other venue. PCB had also insisted on a written assurance from ICC that BCCI will issue the visas on time.
“I have informed the board that the BCCI was supposed to give us visa assurances by 31st December but that didn’t happen because their President, Saurav Ganguly was twice hospitalised,” he said at a media conference here.
“But I have now again taken up this matter with the ICC and am in touch with them. I also have another virtual conference with them tomorrow on this issue. The ICC has told us that we will get our written confirmation by the end of next month.”
“Either we will be going to the World T20 with full protocols or it will have to be moved elsewhere,” he said while insisting that the PCB wanted written assurances that India will issue visas for the Pakistan team, fans and journalists.
India and Pakistan have not played bilateral series for many years now due to political tension between the two countries. For the T20I World Cup, the BCCI has also zeroed in on nine venues where World T20 will be held with Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium hosting the final. The other venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Dharamsala.