PCB Writes to Pakistan Government for World Cup 2023 Travel Clearance
Pakistan team need government clearance to travel to India [Twitter]
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have written a letter to Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and the interior and foreign minister to seek clearance to travel to India for the 2023 World Cup.
In the letter, PCB seeks advice on whether they are allowed to travel for the upcoming World Cup in India, scheduled to take place in October-November. Moreover, the letter also seeks if there are any reservations from the government regarding Pakistan team's venue for the World Cup games.
The letter was written on June 26 as a precautionary step, since Pakistan need the government clearance to travel to India, unlike any other country due to the political differences between the two nations. There is no such deadline for the government to answer back, but PCB have stated that they won't travel to India unless the Pakistan government give a green signal.
"Soon after the World Cup schedule was announced last Tuesday, we wrote to our Patron, Honourable Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, through the Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ministry, copying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior, requesting clearance to participate in the World Cup," A PCB official said to ESPNCricinfo.
The World Cup schedule was announced earlier this week, but the PCB were reluctant to commit without the government clearance.
It is understood that Pakistan government will send its security team to evaluate the safety of the World Cup venues. The security team will evaluate the security and other arrangements made for the team ahead of the mega event, set to commence in a few months from now.
 "Anurag Dasgupta")
