New Delhi: The Pakistani government has officially announced that its national cricket team will take part in the upcoming ICC World Cup in India, but also expressed concern about their security during the tournament.“Pakistan has consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics. It has, therefore, decided to send its Cricket Team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023,” said a statement issued by the Pakistan foreign ministry on Sunday evening.There had been a lot of speculation about whether Islamabad would allow the national team to participate in the ICC world cup in October-November, especially since India had refused to send its team for Asia Cup matches in Pakistan.Stating that Pakistan has “deep concerns” about its cricket team’s security, the foreign office noted, “We are conveying these concerns to the International Cricket Council and the Indian authorities. We expect that full safety and security of Pakistan Cricket Team will be ensured during its visit to India.”The statement further claimed that Pakistan believes that the “state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations”. It also contrasted Pakistan as having shown a “constructive and responsible approach vis-à-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its Cricket Team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup”.While relations between India and Pakistan have largely been hostile for the last six to seven years, diplomatic ties were officially downgraded in 2019 when the Indian high commissioner was asked to leave in the aftermath of the dissolution of Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional autonomy.Earlier, the Najam Sethi-led Pakistan Cricket Board had come to an understanding that the Asia Cup would be held under a ‘hybrid model’, which meant that the matches will be divided between Pakistan and another neutral venue.This would effectively allow India to take part in the Asia Cup even though BCCI was adamant that the Indian team will not travel to Pakistan. With India’s participation confirmed, there was an expectation that the PCB had given a tacit nod to the national cricket team to go for the ICC world cup.After a change at the helm in the PCB, there seems to have been a roll back on this understanding. After the World Cup schedule was announced in June, the PCB said that it would still need government clearance for the tour of Indian cities during the world cup.While Pakistan has now confirmed its participation, BCCI has to still announce the rescheduled dates for the matches, including some of Pakistan’s venues, less than two months before the start of the World Cup.
