NEW DELHI, Oct 21: The Pakistan veterans’ team has pulled out of the International Masters Cricket World Cup to be played in India in January, next year.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has declined a request from the team of over-50 years to participate in the International Masters Cricket World Cup. Pakistan had won the last edition of the tournament held in Sri Lanka last year, but this time the board has informed the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association that they are not permitted to travel and play in India.
“We have informed the organisers about our withdrawal from the World Cup so that they can arrange for an alternate team,” Fawad Ijaz, who heads the PVCA, said on Wednesday. Ijaz said the organisers and host nation had assured the PVCA of granting its team visas and providing high-level security, after which it had sought permission from the PCB and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior to participate.
Ijaz revealed that Pakistan’s interior minister Mohsin Naqvi, who also heads the PCB, informed them they are not permitted to play in India. The Pakistan Hockey Federation had also recently refused to travel to India to play in the Asian Champions Trophy and was replaced by Bangladesh. Pakistan and India, due to strained political relations, play cricket against each other only in multi-nation events and at neutral venues.
(Manas Dasgupta)