Pakistan team to be granted visa by Indian government to play ODI World Cup 2023, says report
India will host the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 in October-November and talks are already on whether Pakistan will come to India for the fifty-over tournament. After India refused to travel to Pakistan for this year’s Asia Cup just before the World Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) warned India that the Men in Green would also refuse to come to India. BCCI Secretary and Asian Cricket Council President Jay Shah had said that the venue of the Asia Cup would have to be changed as approval from the Indian government would be required to travel to Pakistan. In the current scenario, the chances of Pakistan touring for cricket seem slim. The confusion over the venue of the Asia Cup is still unclear.
However, the BCCI has told the ICC in quarterly meetings that the Indian government will provide visas to Pakistani players for the ODI World Cup. The ICC has been told that there will be no issue related to the visas of Pakistani players.
BCCI finalizes 12 venues
The Indian cricket board is also in talks to finalize the 12 cricket stadiums that are set to host the World Cup, said the same report. They are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Dharamshala, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore, Rajkot and Mumbai. In all likelihood, the world’s largest stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium, will host the final of the tournament, while Eden Gardens (Kolkata), Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai), MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chennai) and M Chinnaswamy Stadium (Bengaluru) are in the fray. Race to host the semi-finals of the tournament.
The ODI World Cup dates are yet to be finalized but it is likely that the tournament will be held in India from October 5 to November 19.