The Pakistan government and the country's cricket board (PCB) have asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to give written assurance of the national men's team's security in India during the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 in October-November.
Pakistan will be opening their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands in Hyderabad on October 6 and will play a total of 9 ODIs in India before the knockouts.
After the Dutch, Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka (Oct 12) in Hyderabad, India (Oct 15) in Ahmedabad, Australia (Oct 20) in Bengaluru, Afghanistan (Oct 23) in Chennai, South Africa (Oct 27) in Chennai, Bangladesh (Oct 31) in Kolkata, New Zealand (November 4) in Bengaluru and defending champions England (Nov 12) in Kolkata.
Pakistan to send security delegation to India
The PCB is set to send a security delegation along with Babar Azam's team for the World Cup due to the strained relationship between the Pakistan and India.
Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif has formed a committee to review and decide on Pakistan's participation in the World Cup.
"The committee is expected to recommend that a high-level security delegation be sent to India to visit all the venues, where the Pakistan team is scheduled to play its World Cup matches and review all the security and other arrangements," a source close to the committee said.
Request to change venues turned down
The PCB had even requested the BCCI and ICC to shift their venue for the blockbuster match against India from Ahmedabad but that was unanimously declined by the governing body and the Indian board.
But the match will be played a day before the scheduled date due to the Navratri festival in India.
