In light of the fact that bilateral cricket between the South Asian neighbours has halted as a result of deteriorating political relations, Pakistan’s foreign ministry stated that the country is “evaluating all aspects” of its participation in this year’s 50-over World Cup in India.
Pakistan World Cup participation in India: Over the past ten years, the two nations have only faced off in multi-team competitions at neutral sites, and Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in October-November continues to be in question.
Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, the first senior Pakistani leader to visit India in nine years, was one of the foreign ministers who travelled to Goa, India, last month for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, stated that Pakistan believed “politics should not be mixed with sports.”
“India’s policy of not playing cricket in Pakistan is disappointing,” Baloch stated on Thursday in Islamabad.
“We are monitoring and assessing all factors related to our World Cup participation, including the security situation for Pakistani cricketers, and we will provide PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) with our views as appropriate.”
The uncertainty surrounding Pakistan’s participation has prevented the determination of dates and locations for the World Cup, despite less than three months remaining until the tournament’s commencement.
India has already decided against attending the Asia Cup, which gets underway on August 31, in Pakistan. Pakistan responded by threatening to abstain from the World Cup if they were denied the chance to host the Asia Cup.
However, In an effort to reach a compromise, the Asian Cricket Council announced that they will contest the regional competition using a “hybrid model,” with four matches scheduled to take place in Pakistan and the remaining nine in Sri Lanka.