World Cup 2023: Pakistan cricket team arrives in India after 7 years
PTC News Desk: The Pakistan cricket team landed in India on Wednesday, the first visit in seven years, to compete in the ODI World Cup, which begins on October 5. The Babar Azam-led side will spend a significant amount of time in Hyderabad after arriving from Dubai after a nine-hour layover. The team departed Lahore in the early hours of Wednesday and arrived in Hyderabad late that night.
Pakistan will play New Zealand in their first warm-up game on September 29 before facing Australia on October 3.
They will begin their tournament campaign here against the Netherlands before facing Sri Lanka on October 10. The Pakistani players had received their Indian visas less than 48 hours before their flight. Because of their tense relations, India and Pakistan only play each other in Asia Cup and ICC competitions.
Only Mohammad Nawaz and Salman Ali Agha have played cricket in India. Due to an injury, Babar was unable to compete in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India.
"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 said.
Babar had expressed his excitement about playing in India, particularly Ahmedabad, where the arch-rivals face off in front of a crowd of one lakh or more.
"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.
"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 added.
Also Read: NIA launches sweeping raids across 6 states to disrupt criminal networks
- With inputs from agencies
