World Cup Snag: Pakistani team not yet issued visas

KARACHI: Pakistan’s World Cup 2023 preparations hit a roadblock as they have been reportedly forced to cancel their plans of holding a two-day camp in Dubai before flying to India for the world event due to visa issues.

Pakistan is the only team among the nine who are yet to get their visas for the World Cup in India, reported ESPNCricinfo.

The report further added that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had originally planned to fly out to Dubai on Monday, stay there for a couple of days and then board the Hyderabad-bound flight from there late on Wednesday.

Pakistan are slated to play two warm-up matches – vs New Zealand on September 29 and vs Australia on October 3 – at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad before the main rounds begin two days later.

The visa delays, however, have prompted them to cancel their stay in Dubai. They will now fly from Lahore to Dubai on Wednesday and then will fly to Hyderabad from there provided they get their visas on time.

Behind the game: Exclusive insights into Pakistan’s World Cup 2023 squad

The PCB officials are hopeful that the Pakistan cricketers and support staff will get the required visa approvals from India before their departure for Hyderabad.

The visa delay is nothing new and it only highlights the political tension between India and Pakistan. Travel between the countries has been limited ever since the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 which also halted the bilateral ties between India and Pakistan.

Since that unfortunate event, only one bilateral series between India and Pakistan has taken place and that was when Misbah-ul-Haq-led Pakistan travelled to India in 2012-13 for a short white-ball series.

India have not travelled to Pakistan for a bilateral series since 2006. The last time an Indian cricket team visited Pakistan was in the 2008 Asia Cup.

This will be Pakistan’s first visit to India after the 2016 T20 World Cup.

Apart from left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, who was a part of that squad, It will be the first trip to India for all the other members of Pakistan’s 15-man World Cup squad.