Blind World Cup to go ahead without India if they don't come on time: Pakistan board

The Pakistan Blind Cricket Council (PBCC) has reacted to India Today’s story of the Indian Blind cricket team awaiting clearance from the government to travel to Pakistan for the Blind T20 World Cup 2024. Notably, India Today reported on Monday, November 11 that the Indian team has got the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Sports Ministry to participate in the event.

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However, it’s subject to clearance from the Ministry Of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The PBCC has given their reaction to the report saying that the tournament will proceed as planned in Pakistan without the Indian team. The T20 extravaganza is scheduled to be held from November 23 to December 3.

PBCC Chairman Syed Sultan Shah clarified that Pakistan had issued visas for the Indian team, but it was the Indian government that denied them permission to travel.

"All other teams are coming to Pakistan for the World Cup. If one team doesn’t show up, it won’t affect our preparations," said Sultan.

Earlier, Shailendra Yadav, General Secretary of Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI), told India Today that they have been waiting for government clearance for more than two weeks.

“It's been 15 days now that we are waiting for clearance, and we just need yes or no from the government. Last time we visited Pakistan was in 2014 for a bilateral series. In 2018, the government denied the clearance to visit Pakistan and in 2023, the Pakistan team skipped the tournament when it was held in India,” the CABI General Secretary said.

India's dominant run in Blind T20 World Cup

On being asked about whether the blind team should go to Pakistan, Yadav said, “We will go by whatever the government will direct us. If they say yes, we will go and if they say no, we will not go. We just need clarity from the government.”

Notably, India are the defending champions of the Blind T20 World Cup having won all three editions of the tournament held in 2012, 2017 and 2022 respectively. Back in 2022, India beat Bangladesh by 120 runs in the final to clinch their third successive title at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After putting up a big score of 277/2 on the board, India restricted their opponents to 157/3 and maintained their unbeaten run throughout the tournament.

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