The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reiterated its call for ICC to ensure that its players get Indian visas for the T20 World Cup to be hosted in India next year. And have set a deadline of January 2021, CEO Wasim Khan confirmed.
The PCB CEO also confirmed that there is "no chance" of an Indo-Pak bilateral series in the "foreseeable future" and neither will it be a part of the Fresh the Futures Tours Programme (FTP) that starts in 2023.
The ICC global event will be hosted by India in October 2021 and given that the two neighboring nations share tense diplomatic relations in recent years, the PCB has sought assurances that the visa process of their players and support staff would be dealt with by the ICC.
"This is an ICC matter. We have discussed our concerns. There is a 'Host Agreement' that states very clearly that host nation (India in this case) will have to provide visas and accommodation for teams that are due to participate in the T20 World Cup and Pakistan is one of them," Khan told PTI in an exclusive interaction.
"We have sought assurances from the ICC that our players will receive visas and ICC is now taking this up with the BCCI because that directive and confirmation will clearly need to come from their government," Khan said.
He also stressed on the fact that there should be a deadline for the confirmation and said, “We have asked for a deadline till December-January, which we believe is the right thing. We expect a response from the ICC on whether our players and officials will receive visas to participate in the tournament.”
"If it (visas) isn't (there), then like any nation would expect, we would also expect ICC to take that up directly with India and the Indian government through the BCCI to resolve this matter,” Wasim Khan added.
Pakistan athletes' participation in global events held in India has always been a contentious subject. Last year, Pakistani shooters could not get visas for a World Cup in Delhi, which kicked up quite a storm.
Khan was also practical when he clearly said that India and Pakistan aren't going to play any bilateral series in near future in the current climate.
PCB CEO Wasim Khan makes a U-turn, says Pakistan will play T20 World Cup 2021 in India
"I think we have to be realistic about the India and Pakistan bilateral series... BCCI needs to get permission before they can play Pakistan in any bilateral series, home, away, or even on neutral venues. I think on both sides, there is plenty of cricket to be played against other countries, but sadly for fans and players in both countries, it does not look like that India and Pakistan will be playing bilateral series in the foreseeable future,” he explained.
"So there is no current planning that we can factor into the next FTP (2023-31) unless circumstances and viewpoint changes of the Indian government," the PCB CEO added.
He also made it clear that contrary to popular notion, there is no animosity between BCCI and PCB at the global forum, while making no comments on the ICC chairmanship issue.
"I am not aware that there is any dispute around voting with regards to the BCCI and PCB. It's the domain of BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and PCB chairman Ehsan Mani. I have no knowledge or information on that," said Wasim Khan.
"We obviously communicate at ICC meetings and on various platforms and forums as we need to. But there has been very little dialogue between both the countries (boards). I know in the past there has been a cordial relationship between the BCCI and the PCB. Certainly, there is no visible animosity from both sides when we are on ICC platforms as we have discussions," Khan added.
The PCB CEO also confirmed that they had sent a formal invitation to the England board for a short Pakistan tour in January but are yet to hear from them.
(PTI inputs)
