ODI World Cup India: Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Khalid Mahmood has questioned the country’s government for setting up a committee to decide on the cricket team’s participation in the ODI World Cup in India. Pakistan cricket team is all set to tour India for a global world event for the first time since 2016. However, the PCB has reportedly said that Babar Azam The participation of the team in this is subject to the approval of the government. The World Cup starts on 5 October.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif constituted a high-level committee headed by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto to decide on Pakistan’s participation in this prestigious event. But Khalid has hit back at his government for the move. “Interestingly, the main stakeholder, the Pakistan Cricket Board, has no representative on the committee,” Mahmood was quoted as saying in an interview by PTI.
Khalid further said, “Though I agree that there is no justification for India not touring Pakistan now, but at the international level things are not done like this. If you say that we can send the team Looking at the security situation before taking a decision.” For India, it makes sense, but to say openly that if India doesn’t come to Pakistan, we won’t even send a team to India for the World Cup, is to mix the two things, which we have never done.
Khalid was the first PCB chairman and during his tenure, Pakistan toured India in 1999. “When I was president in 1999, despite threats from India, we sent a delegation to India to assess the security situation and advise the government. We were willing to go to India,” he added.
The committee, reportedly constituted by Sharif, made its recommendations to the PM after exploring and discussing aspects of Pakistan-India relations, the government’s policy of keeping sports and policy separate from each other and India’s status as the host country for players, officials. Will hand over , fans and the media.
Pakistan will also send a security delegation to the venues where Pakistan is set to play its cricket matches. Babar Azam’s team will play World Cup matches at five venues in India. They will play all the matches in the ten-nation tournament in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. The much-awaited India vs Pakistan match is all set to take place in Ahmedabad on 15 October.