June 25, Karachi (PTI) – The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has asked the ICC to get written assurances from the BCCI that its team would face no problems getting visas to play in the 2021 T20 World Cup and 2023 50 over World Cup in India.
“We are also looking at the fact that the ICC World Cups are to be hosted in India in 2021 and 2023 and we have already asked the ICC to give us written assurances from BCCI that we will not face any problems getting visas and clearance to play in India,” PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in an interview on the Youtube Cricket Baaz Channel.
According to a senior official, the PCB has asked ICC to tell the BCCI to get the assurances from their government in the next few months. The official also confirmed that the ICC executive board would decide at its next meet whether the next World T20 Cup would be hosted by Australia or India.
Khan said it was unlikely the World T20 could be held this year in Australia. “The big question now is when the World T20 is held in 2021 will it be hosted by Australia or India as India has the hosting rights for the already scheduled World T20 Cup in 2021,” he said.
Khan said that the ICC members felt the World T20 should be held in the October-November period in 2021 or 2022. “The way things are, the gap available in 2022 will be used to accommodate the 2020 World T20 if it is not held this year.” He said that Pakistan would go to India for the ICC events after it got complete assurance about the security and safety of its players and officials.
Khan pointed out that in recent times many Pakistan sports squads were not given clearance by the Indian government to play in India.
“That is why we have asked for the advance assurances. But eventually, it is an ICC event and it is their responsibility to ensure we as a full member and signatory of the participant’s agreement go and play in these ICC events.” Khan also made it clear that due to the existing strained relations between Pakistan and India there were virtually no chances of bilateral cricket resuming soon.
“We have a good relationship with the BCCI but we know realistically a bilateral series is not possible in the foreseeable future,” he said.
Asked what would be PCB’s stance if BCCI chief Sourav Ganguly decided to stand for the post of ICC Chairman when the sitting Chairman Sashank Manohar steps down next month, Khan said so far no candidate including Ganguly or England’s Colin Greaves had made their intentions clear.
“We are getting mixed signals and we don’t know if Ganguly will decide to stand for the ICC post,” he said.
PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani’s name has also been mentioned as a strong candidate to replace Manohar but he recently in a media interaction made it clear that he was committed to Pakistan cricket for next three years.
