ICC World Cup: PCB writes to Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif seeking clearance for travelling to India

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the interior and foreign ministry seeking clearance to travel to India for the ODI World Cup later this year.

The ICC announced the schedule of the 13th edition of the ODI World Cup, albeit after an extended delay, on Tuesday, 27 June. According to the schedule, Pakistan are scheduled to play their nine league games across five venues — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Pakistan face arch-rivals India at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on 15 October.

According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, PCB had dispatched the letter addressed to Sharif shortly after the schedule was announced by the global body

“Soon after the World Cup schedule was announced last Tuesday, we wrote to our Patron, Honourable Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, through the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ministry, copying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, requesting clearance to participate in the World Cup,” the Pakistan board told ESPNCricinfo.

“The decision to visit India and approve venues at which we can play our matches is the prerogative of the Government of Pakistan. We have absolute trust in the judgment of our government and will follow whatever is advised,” added the board.

Read | ICC ‘confident’ Pakistan will travel to India for ODI World Cup

Unlike touring other nations, the PCB are required to obtain a clearance from the Pakistan government in order to tour India due to ongoing political tensions between the two nations. It had also been the case when the Pakistan team last travelled to India, for the 2016 T20 World Cup in which they faced the Men in Blue in Kolkata.

The PCB had earlier threatened to boycott the World Cup after India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup that takes place right before the quadrennial event.

Pakistan were initially awarded hosting rights for the Asia Cup, which will now be taking place in a ‘hybrid’ format with four matches taking place in Pakistan and the remaining games — including India’s fixtures — being hosted in Sri Lanka.

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