The Pakistan team may play most of its matches in Chennai and Kolkata in the ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year.
Will Pakistan team come to India?
According to International Cricket Council sources, the Pakistan team felt safe at these venues during the last tour of India. The World Cup is expected to start from October 5. 46 matches to be held in ICC’s mega event will be played in 12 cities of the country. These include Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajkot, Bangalore, Delhi, Indore, Guwahati and Hyderabad.
It is believed that the Pakistan Cricket Board is discussing this issue with the top officials of the ICC. However, this issue is still a sensitive topic. An ICC source with knowledge of the matter told PTI that a lot will depend on what decision the BCCI and the Indian government take. However, Pakistan will want to play most of its matches in the ODI World Cup in Kolkata and Chennai. He said that During the 2016 T20 World Cup, Pakistan players were happy about the security during their match against India in Kolkata. Whereas, Chennai is a memorable place for Pakistan.
Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium has a capacity of 1,32,000 spectators and it would be a lucrative deal for ICC to host India-Pakistan matches here. The World Cup final will be played in this stadium, so the India-Pakistan match will be held at another venue.
The ICC’s program committee will work with the BCCI to prepare the World Cup program over the next few months. Recently, ICC General Manager Wasim Khan said in a personal capacity that Pakistan can play its World Cup matches in Bangladesh. However, PCB chairman Najam Sethi and ICC dismissed it as nonsense.