KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board and the Inter­national Cricket Council (ICC) have yet to receive written assurances from the Indian cricket board BCCI regarding issuance of visas for the Pakistan Cricket team to participate in the ICC World T20 in October this year, reliable sources told Dawn News on Tuesday.

According to a reports in the Indian media, BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has informed the Apex Council about the government’s decision on issuing visas to the Pakistan players. “The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear,” an Apex Council member told Press Trust of India on conditions of anonymity.

According to sources, the PCB is pondering over sending a security delegation to India in September to assess the security arrangements for Pakistan team there.

The official added that the matter will be decided in due course of time. “However we had promised ICC that it will be sorted,” the official said.

It is also learnt that all participanting teams of the ICC World T20 will travel in chartered fights due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the recent rapid rise of cases in India has put some doubts on the ICC mega event as per schedule and some reports say that the UAE could be chosen as an alternate venue.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2021