LAHORE: Pakistan are all but set to fly to India for the upcoming World Cup after national team’s contingent was granted visas by the neigbouring country’s government on Monday, after a delay considerable enough to affect its plans.

The Babar Azam-led side will depart from Lahore for Hyderabad — where it plays its warm-up fixtures and opening two matches of the 50-over showpiece — in the wee hours of Wednesday.

The Pakistan squad will transit in Dubai — where they would have conducted team-bonding sessions for two days had it not been for the delay in the granting of visas — before taking the flight to Hyderabad, with their first warm-up match against New Zealand scheduled for Friday.

The remaining nine participating sides of the tournament had received their visas way before their Pakistan counterparts, who had applied for it a week ago.

Until before Monday evening, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was still waiting for the team’s visas. The board went as far as writing a letter to the International Cricket Council, claiming that its concerns over visas for the team, fans and journalists for the extravaganza in India had not been addressed for more than three years.

But the much awaited call from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad finally came through only hours after the PCB had shown its disappointment to the ICC.

“Finally, received a call from the Indian High Commission to collect the passports now,” a PCB spokesperson informed Dawn, confirming Pakistan’s first trip to India since 2016 was on.

Earlier, the board had protested “inequitable treatment” towards Pakistan by the ICC.

“Since the last week, the PCB is being informed that the visas will be received within 24 hours; but still awaiting and it has been indicated that the Indian home ministry has not granted NOC,” the PCB official had said.

Another PCB official told Dawn that the delay for the visas to arrive was expected, but that it was also longer than any in the past for ICC tournaments.

He added that it was “impossible” for the Indian government to not grant the visas to the Pakistan contingent. “Neither India nor ICC could imagine the loss of their reputation if the Pakistan team was issued timely visas.

“It’s just the delaying tactics.”

It may be mentioned here that a good number of Pakistani journalists have applied for accreditation to cover the World Cup and are still waiting for the ICC’s response.

The 18-member Pakistan squad is to gather at the National Cricket Academy on Tuesday, hours before their departure to Dubai, before which Pakistan skipper Babar will address a press conference.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2023