The ODI World Cup 2023 in India is something that Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry has said it is reviewing in all respects. This is the first time the Pakistani government has made a public statement about a problem that has been ongoing for some time and even prevented the International Cricket Council (ICC) from publishing the tournament’s schedule.
The Pakistani government must approve Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup.
Following the distribution of a draft schedule to all participating nations a few days ago, the PCB had written to the ICC to emphasise that they could not unilaterally approve the fixture list and that the decision would finally need to come from their government.
“We have received the official invitation from the Indian prime minister to our prime minister for the virtual meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that is due to take place on the 4th of July,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the announcement during a weekly press conference in Islamabad.
“Pakistan will be represented at the summit. We will be making an announcement regarding our participation in the coming days.”
“Regarding cricket, Pakistan is of the view that politics should not be mixed with sports. India’s policy of not playing cricket in Pakistan is disappointing. We are observing and evaluating all aspects relating to our participation in the World Cup including the security situation for Pakistani cricketers and we will offer our views to PCB in due course.”
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ODI World Cup 2023
The ODI World Cup 2023 will start on October 5. Ten days later, in Ahmedabad, comes the India vs Pakistan match. Pakistan is slated to play at five different locations during the league phase.
Since the 2016 T20 World Cup, Pakistan has not toured India due to tense political ties between the two nations, and even then, Pakistan’s visit to India remained questionable till the last moment. In the absence of a clear and public guarantee from the Indian government regarding the security to be provided to its players, the PCB then also threatened to withdraw from the competition.
The match between India and Pakistan ultimately had to be moved from Dharamsala to Kolkata as a result of these negotiations.
Based on an internal evaluation of the venues they are scheduled to play at, the PCB has asked the ICC to switch locations for two of their league matches during the ODI World Cup 2023. Pakistan has asked for a revision so that they play Australia in Chennai and Afghanistan in Bengaluru instead of the existing schedule, which has Australia playing in Bengaluru on October 20 and Afghanistan playing in Chennai on October 23.
The appeal has been denied. At an ICC event, security concerns are typically the main factor in venue changes. The PCB’s internal review made no mention of a security risk.
The World Cup itinerary typically are released a year in advance, so the delay is already extraordinary. The ICC hopes to finalise the fixture list and release it to the public by next week. Pakistan has till then to communicate any issues they may have.
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