Pakistan cricket team arrives in India after seven years, PCB chief Ashraf confident players will be ‘well looked after’

PTI, Sep 28, 2023, 9:30 AM IST

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The Pakistan cricket team arrived here on Wednesday, its first visit to India in seven years, to compete in the ODI World Cup beginning on October 5.

The Babar Azam-led side will spend a lot of time in Hyderabad, having arrived here Dubai where it had a long nine hour layover. The squad had left Lahore in the wee hours of Wednesday and reached Hyderabad in the night.

Pakistan play their opening warm-up game against New Zealand on September 29 before taking on Australia on October 3. They open their tournament campaign against Netherlands here before battling with Sri Lanka on October 10.

The Pakistan players had got their Indian visas less than 48 hours before their scheduled travel. Both India and Pakistan only face each other Asia Cup and ICC events due to the tense relations between the two countries.

Only Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Ali Agha have visited India for cricket. Babar could not played the T20 World Cup in India in 2016 due to an injury.

“The BCCI has assured the ICC that all teams will be provided the best security and will be well looked after so I don’t expect anything different for our team. I don’t think our team will face any issues in India,” head of PCB management committee Zaka Ashraf told reporters before team’s departure.

Ahead of the team’s departure, Babar had spoken about his excitement over playing in India especially Ahmedabad where the arch-rivals lock horns in front of a one lakh plus crowd.

“Although we have not played in India before, we are not taking too much pressure. We have done our research and we have heard the conditions are similar to how they play out in other Asian countries,” said Babar in the pre-departure media conference.

“I am excited to play in Ahmedabad as it will be jam-packed. I will try my best to perform up to my potential. I am not worried about my individual accolades, I want to make sure whatever I do helps the result for the team,” he said.