Pakistan ministry makes first public statement on Babar Azam-led side's participation in 2023 World Cup in India

PCB had responded to the draft schedule for World Cup saying that the decision to send the team to India will ultimately depend on the government.

For first time ever, a ministry of the Pakistan government has given a verdict or rather an indication amid the ongoing discussion on whether the Babar Azam-led side will be allowed to participate in the impending 2023 ODI World Cup, slated to be held in India later this year, a matter that even went to extent to pressuring ICC in delaying the announcement of the tournament's fixture.

Will Pakistan team be allowed to travel to India for 2023 World Cup?

Earlier, a draft schedule was already made for the World Cup and was sent to all the participating nations and Pakistan Cricket Board had responded to it saying that the decision to send the team to India for the tournament will ultimately depend on the government.

"We have received the official invitation from the Indian prime minister to our prime minister for the virtual meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation that is due to take place on the 4th of July," a spokesperson for the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said in a weekly media briefing in Islamabad. "Pakistan will be represented at the summit. We will be making an announcement regarding our participation in the coming days.

"Regarding cricket, Pakistan is of the view that politics should not be mixed with sports. India's policy of not playing cricket in Pakistan is disappointing. We are observing and evaluating all aspects relating to our participation in the World Cup including the security situation for Pakistani cricketers and we will offer our views to PCB in due course."

According to reports, October 5 is the day when the World Cup begins with the blockbuster India-Pakistan clash likely to be held in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on October 15.

This is not the first time there have been questions on the arrival of Pakistan in India. Amid the rise of political tension between the two countries, bilateral contests had ended more than a decade back and in 2016, for the T20 World Cup, there were uncertainties over Pakistan team's arrival pertaining to security reasons. In fact, it had led to the venue for India-Pakistan clash to be shifted from Dharamsala to Kolkata.

Earlier, there were questions on India's arrival in Pakistan for the 2023 Asia Cup. But unlike this situation, India had outrightly admitted that they won't be going to Pakistan which led to the introduction of the Hybrid Model wherein four matches will bem played in the host nation while the remaining will be played in Sri Lanka.