Pakistan green-lights World T20 appearance

Male and female squads expected to fly to India via UAE on Saturday

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan announced on Friday that it would allow its cricket squad to travel to India for the World Twenty20 after the hosts provided ‘solid assurances’ about the safety and security of the visiting team.

“The government of Pakistan has allowed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to go ahead with its visit to India to participate in the T-20 World Cup,” a spokesman for the interior ministry said, adding that key Indian officials had provided such assurances.



“We received communication from the ICC (International Cricket Council) and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). We received a letter from the chief minister of Bengal and the police chief,” said PCB executive committee chairman Najam Sethi in Islamabad as he announced that Nisar had green-lighted the tour.

“Our High Commissioner Abdul Basit met the Indian [Interior] Secretary and the assurances were given.”



The Pakistan men’s and women’s teams had been due to fly out on Wednesday but the government put their departure on hold, citing the threat posed by Hindu extremists who disrupted a meeting between the heads of the two cricket boards held in India last year and more recently had threatened to dig up the pitch during the tournament.

The much-anticipated March 19 clash between the neighbours had earlier been shifted to Kolkata by the ICC following Pakistan’s security concerns over the original venue Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh. But the move was not enough to sway Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who on Thursday subjected the team’s departure to a public guarantee from New Delhi on the safety of players.



Sethi, in his meeting with the interior minister, briefed him about the current situation and showed the correspondence between the PCB and the BCCI.

“The team is completely ready and hopefully they will fly to Dubai tonight and then from there will leave straight for India,” Sethi said, adding that the decision had been made on the “basis of solid assurances”.

In Lahore, where the men’s squad is camped, PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said the entire team said they wanted to play when asked about reservations and concerns on travelling to India.



“We told all the players that if anyone wants to pull out on security grounds then we can take special permission for him to be replaced but all the players are unanimously willing to go and give their best,” he said.

Pakistani male cricketers are scheduled to take an early morning flight on Saturday to Abu Dhabi from where they will take another flight to Kolkata. The women’s team is expected to fly to Dubai from where they will take a flight to Chennai.

The team’s late departure means they will have to forego their first warm-up match -- against a local West Bengal team -- on Saturday and instead take on Sri Lanka in the second practice match in Kolkata on Monday.



Pakistan’s first match of the tournament will be held at the Eden Gardens on March 16 against a qualifier team, followed by a clash against arch-rival India at the same venue three days later.

Adequate security

Senior Indian officials on Friday assured Islamabad that the team will be safe in India.

“We are providing security to everyone and Pakistan will be given adequate security. They should not be worried about security,” said BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur on Friday.

Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh also sought to allay Pakistan’s sec urity fears.

“Why only Pakistan? Whoever comes here, India provides them security. There is no reason to be worried about security here.”

 

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2016.