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Pakistan Will Ask For ICC T20 World to be Shifted From India in Absence of Visa Assurances

PCB is seeking visa assurances for not just cricketers but also their officials, journalists and fans for the T20 World Cup in India.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani has said they will ask ICC to shift the T20 World Cup from India if they do not receive written visa assurances from the BCCI by March end. PCB is seeking visa assurances for not just cricketers but also their officials, journalists and fans who may want to travel to the country for the marquee event.

Mani said they have already made their intentions clear to the ICC. “There is a need to change the ‘Big Three’ mindset,” Mani said during a press conference. “We are not seeking written assurance for the visas of the national team only, but for the fans, officials and journalists as well.”

“We have told the ICC that India should give written assurances by the end of March so that we know where we stand or we will push for the relocation of the World Cup from India to UAE,” he added.

Due to the ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan, bilateral cricket relations between the two countries remain suspended. The cricket teams of the two neighbouring nations only play each other at ICC or continental tournaments.

He further said that PCB wants to run cricket without help from its Indian counterpart. “The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) lures the other cricket boards through money,” Mani alleged. “…we plan to run our cricket without India.”

Mani expressed his disappointment with Cricket Australia cancelling its tour of South Africa citing coronavirus pandemic. “At the peak of the virus in England in the summer of 2020, the Pakistan men’s team toured England,” he said.

Mani said it would have cost “England and Wales Cricket Board around 3.5 million pounds” had Pakistan not toured back then and added, “Similarly, had India not travelled to Australia it would have made Cricket Australia face heavy losses.”

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