Finally, the visa complexities for Pakistan’s participation in the ICC T20 World Cup have been resolved by the Indian government. After informing the ICC of the issues a few hours earlier, the Indian government has granted visas to the Pakistan cricket team, ensuring their participation in the tournament. Pakistan will take the field against New Zealand on Friday, September 29, in a high-pressure match in Hyderabad. The second and final warm-up match is scheduled for October 3, against Australia.
The first warm-up match is slated for September 29, and it comes just 48 hours after the Indian government officially approved Pakistan’s visas. Pakistan had originally planned to conduct a two-day camp in Dubai to acclimatize to the conditions ahead of the World Cup. However, due to the uncertainty around their visas, those plans had to be scrapped. Now, they will have to adjust to the conditions on the fly.
PCB spokesperson Umar Farooq expressed his frustration, saying, “The disappointing thing is that Pakistan has to go into such a big tournament with this level of uncertainty. We have been reminded of this issue repeatedly over the past three years. Now we have to work anew, book new flights, and rely on the visas again.”
The rivalry between India and Pakistan in cricket is one of the most intense in the world, and it has been over a decade since these two arch-rivals faced each other in a bilateral series. They last played each other in a two-sided series in 2012. After a long hiatus from playing against each other in India, Pakistan will finally take the field on October 6 against the Netherlands in their first match of the T20 World Cup.
The absence of bilateral series between India and Pakistan has led to a lack of recent cricketing encounters between the two teams. However, the upcoming T20 World Cup match is expected to be highly anticipated and followed by fans from both countries.
