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On June 27, Tuesday, the schedule for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 was announced in Mumbai at a launch event featuring Virender Sehwag and Muttiah Muralitharan. One of the most telling parts of the entire announcement was the International Cricket Council (ICC) ignoring the concerns raised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the schedule, reportedly on both cricketing and political grounds.
Alse Read: Pakistan ODI World Cup 2023 Schedule
Earlier, the PCB had requested the ICC to switch the venue for the ODI World Cup match against Australia, set to be played in Bengaluru, with the Afghanistan match in Chennai as per the draft schedule, to get the better of the conditions as per the requirement of the Pakistan cricket team. They had also raised concerns about playing the group stage match against India in Ahmedabad due to political reasons.
But, instead, the governing body of world cricket has decided to allot the World Cup matches for Pakistan, officially, without taking into account the concerns raised by the PCB.
Shortly afterwards, as per NDTV Sports, the official source to the PCB has revealed that the ODI World Cup schedule will be sent to the Pakistan government for clearance. He was quoted as saying, “Our participation in the World Cup and us playing in Ahmedabad on October 15 or in Mumbai if we qualify for semi-finals will all be dependent on government clearance.”
He mentioned that the Pakistan government is yet to give the NOC to the PCB to let their national side travel to India.
“We have already informed the ICC that our participation in the tournament or any issues over venues is linked to firstly the PCB getting clearance from the government to travel to India,” the official source reiterated.
