ODI CWC: Pakistan's team bonding trip to be delayed due to visa delay

Pakistan's World Cup squad is to travel to Lahore before coming to India for the first warm-up match against New Zealand on September 29.

Hyderabad: Pakistan's plans for a pre-ODI World Cup team bonding trip to Dubai have been delayed as the team hasn't received their visas to travel to India till Friday.

Originally the plan was to fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this week, where they would spend a few days before landing in Hyderabad for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023, which will be played in India.

The Pakistan squad was to stay for a couple of days in the UAE before leaving for their first warm-up game against New Zealand on September 29. The warm-up fixture will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium at Uppal in Hyderabad behind closed doors. Now, it is likely that the Pakistan team will fly from Lahore to Dubai early next Wednesday and will land in Hyderabad from there.

As of now, Pakistan is the only one - of nine sides travelling to India for the coveted World Cup, which is still waiting for visas. The delay highlights the complex and tense political situation between the two countries - India and Pakistan.

Both the teams - India and Pakistan have played just one ODI bilateral series in the last 11 years that too way back in 2012. Also, Pakistan has visited India just once for the 2016 T20 World Cup. The BCCI forced the Asian Cricket Council after which the 2023 Asia Cup was played in a hybrid manner - in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India, who eventually won the Asia Cup, played all their games, including the summit clash, in Sri Lanka.

The schedule of the 2023 World Cup, which is set to begin on October 5, was also readjusted after the requests from police forces in more than one city - Ahmedabad and Kolkata, primarily - since nine match dates were clashing with those of important religious festival dates.

Only two players from Pakistan's current squad have visited India for cricket before - Mohammad Nawaz, who was part of Pakistan's 2016 T20 World Cup squad and Agha Salman, who was in the Lahore Lions' squad for the Champions League T20.

For the record, Pakistan won the ODI World Cup in 1992, which was played in Australia and New Zealand, when it was led by charismatic skipper Imran Khan and had the likes of pacer Wasim Akram.