LONDON: The International Cricket Council (ICC) expressed confidence that the Pakistan cricket team will travel to India for playing the upcoming World Cup after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) subjected its participation to government clearance, ARY News reported on Tuesday.
In a statement to an Indian news agency, an ICC spokesperson pointed out that Pakistan has a signed participation agreement to compete and the world governing body “100 percent expects them to be there”.
“All members have to abide by the rules and the laws of their country and we respect that. But we’re confident Pakistan will be in India for the men’s ODI World Cup,” an ICC spokesperson said.
However, a PCB official said, the country’s participation in the World Cup and playing in Ahmedabad on October 15 or in Mumbai “if we qualify for semi-finals will all be dependent on government clearance.”
The PCB official said the government has not yet issued any NOC to the PCB to travel to India and since it was a sensitive issue, the Board can only move forward after getting clear directives from its government.
“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 said.
It is worth mentioning here that the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced the anticipated schedule of the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on Tuesday.
As per the ICC-released schedule, a total of 10 teams will participate in the mega event – featuring 45 matches – and compete for the prestigious silverware across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19.
Like the previous edition, the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 will also be played in a round-robin format – each team playing nine matches with the rest of the opponents.
The top four teams by the end of the group stage will qualify for the semi-finals, scheduled to be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16.
Whereas, the final of the tournament will take place on November 19 at the grand Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Notably, all three knockout matches of the ICC Men’s World Cup will have a reserve day.
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