Now a new drama of Pakistan promoting terror has started. It has decided to send a security team to India to take stock of the security situation ahead of the World Cup. Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had talked about considering the decision of sending its cricket team to India for the World Cup. PCB had said that this decision rests with their government. Responding to this, the ICC had said that the PCB has entered into an agreement and now it cannot back down.

ODI World starting from October 5
The ODI World Cup is going to start in India on October 5. In such a situation, Pakistan is ready to send a security team to India to inspect the venues before approving the Babar Azam-led team. An official source in the Inter-Provincial Coordination (Sports) Ministry told the news agency PTI that after the Eid holidays and the election of the new PCB chairman, the Pakistan government will decide when to send the security delegation to India. However, it is not decided whether it will be approved by the Government of India or not.

"The security delegation along with the PCB representation will go to inspect the venues where Pakistan will play and also inspect the security and other arrangements made for them in the World Cup," the source said. The source said the delegation would visit Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata, including Ahmedabad, the venue of the India-Pakistan match on October 15.



Security delegation will inspect these things
The official told PTI, “It is standard practice for the cricket board to seek permission from the government before any tour of India which usually sends a delegation to India. The delegation will interact with the officials there and hold discussions and inspections with them. Will also see to the security and other arrangements for our players, officials, fans, and media going for the tournament. “He said that if the delegation felt that it would be better for Pakistan to play at any other venue than that venue, then He will mention this in his report.

The venue of the India-Pakistan match was changed in 2016 as well.
"If the delegation has any concerns regarding any venue, the PCB will share the report with the ICC and the BCCI," he added. A PCB source confirmed that the last time Pakistan traveled to India for the T20 World Cup, the government had sent a joint delegation to India to inspect the venues. It was on the recommendation of the delegation that Pakistan's match against India in Dharamsala was shifted to Kolkata.

Earlier, the ICC had announced the ODI World Cup scheduled to be held in India on June 27. As per the schedule, Pakistan will lock horns with India on October 15 in Ahmedabad. At the same time, it will compete with Australia (October 20) at Chinnaswamy in Bengaluru and Afghanistan (October 23) at Chepauk, Chennai. Soon after this announcement, the PCB said that its participation in the ODI World Cup would be subject to government approval.

What was the reply given by ICC to PCB?
The ICC issued a statement and then responded to the PCB. Regarding the situation in Pakistan, he said, "Pakistan has signed an agreement to participate in the World Cup. We are hoping that he will not renege on this agreement and will come to India. All the teams participating in the World Cup are bound by the rules and regulations of their country and we respect that as well. However, we are sure that Pakistan will come to India to play in the World Cup.

PCB can decide in the first week of July
It is being claimed in some media reports that the Government of Pakistan has not yet allowed PCB to play in the World Cup due to security reasons. The Government of Pakistan has started an inquiry into the security arrangements. According to reports, in the first week of July, the Pakistani government will decide on whether their team will go to India to play in the ODI World Cup or not. Pakistan last played T20 World Cup in 2016 in India.

ICC took care of Pakistan in this matter
The ICC has not given hosting of any match of Pakistan to Mumbai. Along with this, while deciding the venue of the semi-finals, PCB was also taken care of. The semi-finals will be played in Mumbai and Kolkata. However, the ICC issued a directive that if the Pakistan team reached the semi-finals, it would play its matches in Kolkata. On the other hand, if there is a semi-final match between India and Pakistan, then India will have to face Pakistan in Kolkata itself. Despite this, the drama of the Pakistan Cricket Board continues.

Pakistan's ODI World Cup schedule in 2023
The Pakistan team will start their campaign against the Qualifier-1 team on October 6. The qualifiers teams will be decided after the ongoing ODI World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Pakistan has to play two matches in Hyderabad, one in Ahmedabad, two in Bengaluru, two in Chennai, and two in Kolkata. A total of 10 teams will participate in this World Cup. Eight teams have already qualified for the tournament and the remaining two places are being played in Zimbabwe with a qualifier round, with six teams making it to the Super Sixes. Two of these teams will participate in the main round of the World Cup to be held in India.

World Cup matches will be played in 10 cities
World Cup matches will be played in 10 cities in India. There are matches in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamshala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata. Apart from Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Thiruvananthapuram will host warm-up matches from September 29 to October 3. In this World Cup, all the teams will play in round-robin format along with the other nine teams. Out of these, the top four teams in the points table will qualify for the semi-finals and the winning teams will compete in the finals. Last time the World Cup was organized in England in the same format. Then the English team defeated New Zealand in the final.

(pc amarujala)