Babar Azam‘s Pakistan men’s cricket team has been confirmed by their foreign ministry to visit India for the 2023 ODI World Cup.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the nation’s men’s cricket team will indeed participate in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
The foreign ministry emphasized that the team’s international commitments would not be affected by the existing bilateral relations with India.
“Pakistan has consistently maintained that sports should not be mixed with politics. It has, therefore, decided to send its Cricket Team to India to participate in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023,” The foreign ministry’s statement stated.
“Pakistan believes that the state of bilateral relations with India should not stand in the way of fulfilling its international sports-related obligations.”
Babar Azam’s Pakistan team got government approval to travel to India for the ODI World Cup
The ODI World Cup comes after the Asia Cup, which was initially planned to be hosted by Pakistan.
However, due to BCCI’s decision not to send the Indian team to Pakistan, Sri Lanka was chosen as co-hosts for the continental tournament, with India’s matches scheduled in Sri Lanka.
“Pakistan’s decision shows its constructive and responsible approach vis-à-vis India’s intransigent attitude, as the latter had refused to send its Cricket Team to Pakistan for the Asia Cup,” the statement read.
Recently, Pakistani officials visited various venues where the team is set to play World Cup matches to assess the security arrangements. This will mark the first instance of the Pakistan men’s team traveling to India since the 2016 T20 World Cup.
The last bilateral series between the two countries occurred in December 2012-January 2013, and since then, their encounters have been limited to continental (Asia Cup) and global (World Cup, Champions Trophy) tournaments.
This year, fans can look forward to several India-Pakistan matches, with potential encounters in the Asia Cup and the World Cup, though the latter’s schedule might change for security reasons.
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