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The Pakistan government and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give written assurance about the security of their team in India during the ODI World Cup 2023, which is scheduled to take place from October 5 to November 19.
Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup has been a major subject in the last few months, and the Pakistan Prime Minister has formed a committee led by Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Minister and the chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, including Sports Minister Ahsan Mazari, Maryam Aurangzeb, Asad Mahmood, Amin ul Haq, Qamar Zaman Kaira, and Tariq Fatmi, a former diplomat.
According to the Free Press Journal, the PCB and the government have agreed to send their team to India for the mega event, but only if the ICC and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) guarantee their safety and security in writing. PCB will also send a security delegation to India to inspect the venues where Pakistan will play its matches.
"The committee is expected to recommend that a high-level security delegation be sent to India to visit all the venues where the Pakistan team is scheduled to play its World Cup matches and review all the security and other arrangements," a source close to the committee said.
Pakistan are expected to play their arch-rival India on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which is expected to be a high-voltage clash. The two teams have not played a bilateral series since 2012-13 due to political tensions between the two countries. However, they have faced each other in ICC events and Asia Cups.
Earlier, the date of the India-Pakistan match to be held in Ahmedabad on October 15 was changed and will now be played on October 14. According to the news agency PTI, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has agreed to change the date. The date of Pakistan's match against Sri Lanka has also been changed from October 12 to October 10. Pakistan also wanted to change the venue of its two league matches in the 2023 World Cup, but according to reports, the ICC and BCCI have rejected its demand.
