Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has cleared the national cricket team, led by Shahid Afridi, to travel to India take part in the ICC World Twenty20. A possible pullout was off the cards after the Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday approved Pakistan’s participation in the mega event. The Pakistan government had earlier said its men and women’s teams would travel to India only after New Delhi gave a public guarantee on the safety of its players. Najam Sethi, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) executive committee, met Interior Minister Nisar Khan yesterday and later informed the media in Islamabad that the government had received ‘solid assurances’ from India.

Addressing a press conference here at Gaddafi Stadium, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said the Interior Minister had given permission to send the Pakistan cricket team to play the World Twenty20 on the basis of solid assurances received from the Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Indian Home Secretary. Shaharyar said the players were given the pullout option if they felt any security threat but all 15 squad members wanted to play in the tournament. “None of the players accepted this option and all of them made it clear they want to go to India to play in the World T20. We want cricketing ties to remain active. Our hope is that our cricketing relations with India remain intact,” Shaharyar added. He stated that hosts India had addressed the concerns about the safety and security of Pakistan players.

The uncertainty around Pakistan’s participation had threatened to further sour relations between the neighbours. The breakthrough came after Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Pakistan should not have any safety concerns in India and Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal, assured in writing ‘foolproof security’ to Pakistan for their match against India. Cricket Association of Bengal, headquartered in Kolkata, capital city of West Bengal state, operates the Eden Gardens. The much-anticipated March 19 clash between the neighbours had earlier been shifted to Kolkata following Pakistan’s security concerns over the original venue Dharamsala. The International Cricket Council moved the match from Dharamsala to Kolkata, after Pakistan asked for a change in venue. The request was based on the report of a three-member delegation from Pakistan that visited India to assess security arrangements in Dharamsala, and stated that ‘security is not assured’ at the venue.

Outside of international tournaments, cricket matches between the two countries have been suspended since gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in a three-day rampage in 2008, which India blames on a Pakistani militant group. “The team members are ready and hopefully they will fly to Dubai early Saturday morning and then from there will leave straight for India,” Shaharyar added, signalling the end of an organisational headache for both the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council.

2009 champions Pakistan, who lost to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, begin their campaign on March 16 against a qualifying team. “I am very happy that the team is going to India and although there might be some minor incidents but we are sure the security of our team will be top notch.” Shaharyar said he was confident that the Indian people would give a warm welcome to the Pakistan team. “Unfortunately due to these issues the team can play only one warm-up match against Sri Lanka instead of the schedule two as they will reach Kolkata on Sunday since they will take an indirect flight,” said the PCB chief.