'There has been an extraordinary delay' - Pakistan finally receive their India visa for ODI World Cup 2023

The Pakistani Cricket Team has finally got the all-clear to land in India. Babar Azam and his side have received their visas to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup to be held in India. There was a massive embargo as the Pakistani players were still to get their visas.

There were massive concerns from the Pakistani side due to the delay. Pakistan is set to play its first warm-up game on the 29^th against New Zealand at Hyderabad. The 1992 World Cup winners then will play their second warm-up game against Australia.

Pakistan is touring India after 7 years. The last time they came to India was during the T20 World Cup in 2016. This is the first time the likes of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and others get to play in front of cricket-crazy Indian fans.

Pakistan Cricket Team (source-twitter)

Pakistan is all set for ODI World Cup 2023

The Indian government late on Monday confirmed that the procedure of granting visas to Pakistan was complete. As per a statement that was given to ESPNcricinfo, the Indian government said “The Ministry of Home Affairs gives security clearance for the issue of visas”.

This ends the wait the Pakistani board and its players endured. Pakistan announced its team for the World Cup last week. This left very little time for the visa applications to be done. Once the applications were sent in, the Indian authorities started working on it. The Pakistani team then got the all-clear late on Monday evening.

Umar Farooq who is a spokesperson for the Pakistan board read out a statement. The disappointment in visas getting delayed wasn’t hidden. Umar Farooq in the statement said “There has been an extraordinary delay in getting clearance and getting the Indian visas for the Pakistani team for the World Cup”

The spokesperson further went on to say how they had approached the global cricketing body over the delay. Umar Farooq was also heard saying they had written to the Apex body on the ‘inequitable treatment’ towards his team. The spokesperson for the Pakistan board also shared his disappointment over the procedure for Babar Azam and his side.

The statement further read “We have been reminding the organizers about their obligations from the last 3 years and it has all come down to the last two days with our first warm-up game on 29^th September. We were forced to cancel our original plan to organize team-building exercises in Dubai on the way to India. We have to rework our plans and book new flights, but these plans are subject to the issuance of visas”