New Delhi: Amid the standoff between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack, the latter has demanded a “visa guarantee” for Pakistani players at the ICC events to be conducted in India in 2021 and 2023.
1. As per a report in Sportstar, PCB chairman Ehsan Mani raised the issue at ICC Board meeting which was conducted in Dubai on Saturday. Mani wanted a guarantee from the international board that Pakistani players won’t face any visa issues to take part in the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 Cricket World Cup which are scheduled to be staged in India.
2. Responding to Mani’s query, ICC assured that there was enough time for a call to be taken on the matter as visa issues are discussed only a year ahead of the tournament and that there was enough time for ICC to take care of the matter.
3. ICC has also turned down the BCCI’s request to boycott ties with nations which harbour terrorism. Last month, the Indian cricket board had earlier written a letter to the ICC, proposing to take an action on such nations.
4. A BCCI official said, “There was no chance that anything like that would have happened. The ICC Chairman made it clear that the decision to ostracize a nation is taken at the government level. The BCCI knew it all along but still took a chance.”
5. The chairman of BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA), Vinod Rai told The Hindu that a robust security arrangement would be put in place for the forthcoming cricket world cup in England. India plays Pakistan on June 16 at the Old Trafford.
6. On the issue of playing against Pakistan at the World Cup, Rai said, “The match is some time away. Why should we concede two points by not playing the match? We will follow what the government says in this matter.”
7. Meanwhile, The Australian, a broadsheet newspaper published from New South Wales has claimed that ticket for the Indo-Pak match on June 16 is trading for as high as Rs 2.80 lakh.
8. It said the investors are keeping their fingers crossed about the high-voltage match happening.
9. India and Pakistan have not played bilateral series since 2012, sans the ICC tournaments.
10. Pakistan players are also barred from playing in the IPL matches due to start from March 23.
