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Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has formally written a letter to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif through the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) to seek government’s clearance for country’s participation in the ODI World Cup to be held in India in October this year.
Due to tense political relations between the two nations, traveling India requires official authorization unlike visiting any other country, hence the PCB wrote the letter on June 26 as a necessary first step. The government has no set time limit to answer, but the PCB cannot move forward without this authorization. The PCB gave the government a copy of Pakistan’s schedule, which states that the squad will play its nine league games in five venues, including the significant encounter against India in Ahmedabad on October 15.
“Soon after the World Cup schedule was announced last Tuesday, we wrote to our Patron, Honourable Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, through the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ministry, copying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, requesting clearance to participate in the World Cup,” the PCB was quoting as saying in ESPNcricinfo.
In the letter sent on June 27, the PCB also sought the government’s advice on the venues.
The ICC has earmarked five venues for Pakistan —
October 12 – vs Qualifier in Hyderabad
October 15 – vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 – vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 – vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 – vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 – vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 5 – vs New Zealand Bengaluru
November 12 – vs England in Kolkata
If Pakistan reach the semi-final, they will play in Kolkata. The final will be held in Ahmedabad on November 15.