Pakistan are yet to receive a visa to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Pakistan will play Netherlands in a warmup game on September 22 ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

The upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will start in a couple of weeks. The tournament will start on October 5 with a game between England and New Zealand. The top ten teams will be participating in the tournament and will play nine group matches each, while the top four will qualify for the semi-finals. Before the tournament, all the participating nations will be playing two warm-up games each, starting on September 29.

All the teams are expected to reach India in the coming few days. However, amid all those preparations, Pakistan cricket team suffered a massive setback. Notably, Pakistan was set to travel to UAE for a bonding trip before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, but that had to be cancelled because of delays in receiving the visas for India for the coming tournament.

Pakistan Cricket Team are yet to obtain visa to India for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Pakistan are scheduled to play the first warm-up game on September 29 (Friday) in Hyderabad. They planned a trip to Dubai before heading to Hyderabad for the warm-up game. They were supposed to travel to the UAE next week and stay there for a couple of days. But all these plans have now been cancelled as they have yet to get visas.

Notably, men in green are the only team waiting for their visa. This delay indicates the strained relations between the two countries. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed to its players that the trip to UAE is been cancelled as Indian High Commission in Islamabad hasn't granted the visa until now. Furthermore, some media reports confirm that the PCB has taken this matter to the ICC.

Pakistan Cricket Team travelled to India in 2016 for the T20 World Cup. A source confirmed, "PCB sent its officials to Islamabad for passport collection yesterday, but the visas are still in process. That has forced the board to cancel the team bonding trip in Dubai. If the visas come through, the team will reach Hyderabad on September 27 via Dubai." The source also confirmed that when it comes to an Indian visa for a Pakistani citizen, the approach needs to be taken from three ministries: home, external affairs, and sports, which is why it takes time but will happen.