With the World Cup 2023 set to begin on October 5, a report from sources revealed that the Pakistan Cricket team is yet to get a visa to travel to India for the tournament.
Delay in visa clearance for Pakistan team
The Pakistan Cricket team planned to travel to Dubai before competing in the Warmup games of the World Cup 2023.
With the Pakistan Cricket Board announcing their 15-member squad for the tournament on Friday, Babar Azam and his co are set to travel on a pre-World Cup bonding trip but the visa clearance for the trip is still under progress.
Out of 10 teams participating in the World Cup, only the Pakistan team has not received their visas yet. With the plans canceled, the Pakistan team will be heading toward Karachi and will start to Hyderabad for their first warm-up match against New Zealand on September 29. Pakistan team will be traveling to India for the first time since 2012-13.
Pakistan cricket team has been knocked out from the Asia Cup with their defeat in the Super Fours against Sri Lanka. On this occasion, a meeting was held on Thursday regarding the team’s underperformance in the Asia Cup with the likes of PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, Captain Babar Azam, head coach Grant Bradburn, Salman Nasser, Usman Wahla, and former skipper Misbah ul Haq.
Pakistan’s former captain Mohammad Hafeez resigned from the PCB’s technical committee after the review meeting. Hafeez’s departure has ignited further debates over the preparation for the upcoming World Cup.
Naseem Shah sustained an injury on his right shoulder during the game against India in the Super Fours of the Asia Cup where India won with a 228-run difference. The scans revealed he was injured worse than expected and will be ruled out of the marquee tournament in India.
Hassan Ali will be replacing Naseem Shah in the 15-member squad for the tournament. Hasan Ali has featured in 60 ODIs since his debut in 2017, dismissing 91 wickets at an average of 30.36. His last ODI appearance was in the home series against New Zealand in January 2023 in Karachi.
In the team led by Babar Azam, allrounder Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Haris and Zaman Khan have been excluded from the squad that played in the Asia Cup. Meanwhile, Shadab Khan has been retained as Babar Azam’s deputy for the tournament.
Pakistan will be playing its Warmup games against New Zealand on September 29 and Australia on October 3 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
