PCB agrees to changes in Pakistan’s World Cup schedule
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has agreed to have two of the national side’s matches of the upcoming ICC World Cup in India rescheduled, sources told Dawn on Tuesday.
According to the suggested changes, Pakistan’s high-voltage encounter against archrivals India, which was originally scheduled for Oct 15 in Ahmedabad, will be played a day earlier, while their match against Sri Lanka has been moved back to Oct 10 from Oct 12.
Although the International Cricket Council (ICC) had released the official schedule for the 50-over showpiece last month, it was recently requested by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to have the fixture list tweaked.
The BCCI had expressed its concerns over managing security arrangements for the tournament on Oct 15 — which would have seen the Pakistan-India match clash with a religious festival.
The new schedule is yet to be announced officially. However, it will have no impact on Pakistan’s opening fixture against the Netherlands in Hyderabad (Oct 6) and on their matches after the clash against India.
Whether Pakistan travel to India for the World Cup is still to be decided by a Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-led committee, which was set up by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month.
The committee will also approve the venues where Pakistan have been scheduled to play after its due diligence over the security situation at each of them.
The 11-member working group will meet for the first time on Thursday and it is likely that it will make a final call on the same day.
If Pakistan are given the green signal to play in Ahmedabad, that would see them locking horns against India in front of 132,000 spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium, the world’s largest cricketing venue.
The World Cup is set to be played from Oct 5 to Nov 19.
Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd, 2023