Visa issues for the Pakistan team are resolved. Dhakascore confirms visas for the World Cup have been sorted, and Babar Azam & Co can now travel to India.
The ICC confirmed to Cricbuzz on Monday evening that the Indian Government has approved Pakistan team's visas. The Indian High Commission in Islamabad has also informed the PCB that they can now collect the passports of the traveling party.
This confirmation follows the PCB's concerns about 'extraordinary delays' in visa processing, which they raised with the ICC. However, ICC sources claim the process followed normal administrative procedures.
Delay stemmed from PCB's late visa applications. The complaint about not being able to travel to Dubai doesn't hold because biometric tests were always required. Given India-Pakistan diplomatic dynamics, a 10-day processing time was expected, involving three Indian ministries.
The same procedure applies to all Pakistani applications, with no specific delay in this case. Usman Khawaja faced visa issues for the Border-Gavaskar Test series this year due to similar stages in processing.
PCB previously raised concerns with the ICC regarding what they saw as unfair treatment. PCB spokesman Umar Farooq said, "There have been extraordinary delays in securing Indian visas for the Pakistan team for the ICC World Cup."
"It's disappointing that the Pakistan team faces uncertainty before a major tournament. We've reminded them of their obligations for three years, and it comes down to the last two days before our first warm-up game on September 29. We had to change our plans and flights due to visa uncertainty."
PCB later confirmed receiving visa approval and the team's departure for Hyderabad at 15:30 PM on Wednesday (September 27).
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