Team Pakistan's visa to travel to India and take part in Blind T20 World Cup has been rejected, confirmed GK Mahantesh, the President of Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI).
“We tried really hard but could not make it as it is not in out hand. It is government's decision,” Mahantesh told Sports Tak.
“This unfortunate incident has left Pakistan Blind Cricket Team in the lurch. Pakistan was a serious contender to win the World Cup as Pakistan has been the runners-up twice in the earlier two edition of this format of World Cups (2012 and 2017) and has beaten the current T20 World Champion India five times consecutively in the last five encounters during two Tri-Nation competitions in 2021 and 2022 and won both the events,” Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) said in a statement.
“It was highly likely that Pakistan and India would have locked horns in the final of ongoing World Cup and considering the current form of Green Shirts, Pakistan had the high chances to win the World Cup.
“As per the available information the Ministry of External Affairs India has denied Pakistan Blind Cricket Clearance on Political Ground. PBCC strongly condemned this discriminating act of India as Sports should be above the regional politics and particularly the Special Persons mega sports events would be treated fairly and all teams must be given equal chances to compete the event. Our counterpart Blind Cricket Association in India pleaded their Govt for Pakistan clearance but nothing was heard.”
This is the third edition of the Blind T20 World Cup. After Pakistan's exclusion, Australia, Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka and India are participating in the tournament which will have a total of 24 matches across nine cities.
India’s T20 World Cup squad: Lalit Meena, Praveen Kumar Sharma, Sujeet Munda, Nilesh Yadav, Sonu Golkar, Sovendu Mahata, Ajay Kumar Reddy (c), Venkateswara Rao (vc), Nakula Badanayak, Irfan Diwan, Lokesha, Tompaki Durga Rao, Sunil Ramesh, A Ravi, Prakash Jayaramaiah, Deepak Malik, Dhinagar G
Schedule:
India vs Nepal- December 6 at Sledge Hammer, Faridabad
India vs Pakistan- December 7 at DDA Siri Fort Sports Complex, Delhi
India vs Australia- December 10 at Khalsa Stadium, Indore, Madhya Pradesh
India vs South Africa- December 11 at St Paul’s college Kochi Cricket Ground
India vs Bangladesh- December 13 at Barabati Stadium, Cuttack, Odisha
India vs Sri Lanka- December 14 at Panjim Gymkhana Sports Club, Goa
