Published: Aug 12, 2023, 08:31 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 12, 2023, 08:31 AM (IST)
THE PAKISTAN government gave his national cricket team a green signal to travel to India to participate in the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup 2023, emphasising that the stretched state of bilateral relations between the two countries should not become a hurdle in fulfilling international sporting obligations.
However, both their cricket board and government are still raising issues over the security of their players. India’s External Affairs Ministry on Friday, cleared all the issues around players’ security.
“Pakistan’s cricket team will be treated just like the cricket team of any other country participating in the ICC World Cup,” the official spokesperson for India’s external affairs ministry, Arindam Bagchi, said during a weekly media briefing.
“As regards security issues, I think the question should be better directed toward our security agencies or the organizers, and, of course, we would hope that all necessary security will be provided not just to them (the Pakistani team) but all other participating teams,” he added.
The highly-anticipated clash between India and Pakistan at the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad was rescheduled to October 14 by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday.
The development comes after the news of the most high-profile clash in the tournament being brought forward from the original date of October 15, owing to it coinciding with the first day of Navaratri, a major, nine-day Hindu festival as local police in Ahmedabad had raised concerns over providing adequate security on that day.
Apart from the India-Pakistan match, details of eight other matches have also been changed in the latest updated schedule of the tournament released on Wednesday.
India’s last league match against the Netherlands, a day-night clash to be played in Bengaluru, has now been shifted to November 12 from November 11.
Due to the change in date of the India-Pakistan clash, defending champions England’s fixture against Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi will now be played 24 hours later on October 15, instead of the original date of October 14.
Pakistan’s contest against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has moved from October 12 to now being played on October 10. On the other hand, Australia’s big match against South Africa in Lucknow has been moved back by 24 hours and will now be played on October 12 instead of October 13.
New Zealand’s game against Bangladesh, which was originally scheduled as a day match for October 14 in Chennai has been moved back by 24 hours and will now be held on October 13 as a day-night contest. England’s clash against Bangladesh in Dharamsala on October 10 is now a day match with a 10:30am start time after it was originally scheduled as a day-night fixture.
Matches scheduled for November 12 have been moved a day earlier to November 11, Australia-Bangladesh in Pune (10:30am) and England-Pakistan in Kolkata (2pm). It comes after the date of the England-Pakistan clash could be changed due to it coinciding with Kali Puja in the city.
