Pakistan Cricket Team has faced a massive setback as their pre-World Cup team bonding trip to Dubai has been canceled due to delays in obtaining visas to travel to India. Initially, the Men in Green had scheduled to fly to the UAE next week for a brief stay before heading to Hyderabad for their first warm-up match against New Zealand on September 29. However, these plans have now been canceled, and the team will instead travel to Karachi and then fly to Hyderabad next week.
Out of the nine teams scheduled to travel to India for the World Cup, Pakistan is the sole team that is still awaiting their visas. This delay underscores the intricate and strained political environment that surrounds the team’s journey to India. Citizens of both countries face highly restricted travel between them due to the challenging and often futile process of obtaining visas.
This upcoming ODI World Cup marks Pakistan Cricket Team’s first visit to India since 2012-13. This particular tour was exceptional, as it took place during a period of strained relations between the two countries following the Mumbai attacks in November 2008. Pakistan has only toured India once in the past decade, and that was for the T20 World Cup in March 2016.
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Pakistan’s ODI World Cup Squad and Naseem Shah’s Injury
Pakistan’s World Cup campaign will commence on October 6 with a match against The Netherlands in Hyderabad. On Friday, Pakistan announced a 15-player squad for the World Cup, with Babar Azam leading the team. Unfortunately, they will be without their star fast bowler Naseem Shah, who sustained a minor injury during a Super Four match against India at the Asia Cup.
Naseem was leaving the field in the middle of his over, and subsequently, they ruled him out of the continental tournament. In Naseem’s absence, the squad included Hasan Ali. Shaheen Shah Afridi will spearhead Pakistan’s pace attack in the upcoming ODI World Cup, with support from Haris Rauf, Mohammed Waseem, and Hasan Ali.
Pakistan World Cup Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, and Mohammad Wasim.
