India to grant Pakistan cricketers visa for the 2021 T20 World Cup

After a lot of speculations, the Indian government has decided to grant visas to the Pakistan cricketers for the 2021 T20 World Cup. As per reports, Jay Shah, the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), informed the Apex Council about the government’s decision.

It means that Babar Azam and Co are mostly to not have any problems regarding playing in India later this year. The development has come to the fore after Pakistan defeated South Africa 3-1 in the T20I series following their win in the fourth game by three wickets at the SuperSport Park.

“The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear. It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it will be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting,” a member of the Apex Council was quoted as saying in India Today.

PCB chief asked for written assurance on Pakistan cricketers getting visas

Previously, Ehsan Mani, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief, asked for a written assurance from the ICC that India will grant their players visas for the T20 mega event. Mani said that Pakistan would be going for the tournament with full protocols or the event should be shifted to some other venue.

“I have informed the board that the BCCI was supposed to give us visa assurances by 31st December but that didn’t happen because their President, Sourav Ganguly was twice hospitalised,” he said at the media conference.

“But I have now again taken up this matter with the ICC and am in touch with them. I also have another virtual conference with them tomorrow on this issue. The ICC has told us that we will get our written confirmation by the end of next month,” he added.

In another development, it’s been learned that the BCCI has decided on nine venues- Dharamsala, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Delhi, and Hyderabad- for the T20 World Cup. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is likely to host the final.

As far as India and Pakistan are concerned, the Asian giants haven’t locked horns with each other in a bilateral series since 2012-13.