Pakistan Team Arrives in India after 7 years
On Wednesday, Pakistan cricket team has arrived in India for 7 week ICC Men’s ODI World Cup tournament after 7 long years. The entire team was escorted under tight security as they moved from the airport to the hotel.
Local cricket fans from Hyderabad cheered the arrival of Pakistan team and some of them shouted the name of number one ranked ODI batter Babar Azam. It was a warm and hospitable welcome for the arch-rival who will spend some good time in next one and half months.
The team recieved its visas on September 25 after few days of delay. Even the board complained to ICC about the unfair treatment but in the end, all went good for good and in a much anticipated event, an entire new Pakistan team is ready to play in India for the first time in an ODI World Cup.
Pakistan will play two warm-up matches in Hyderabad behind close doors against New Zealand and Australia on September 28 and October 3 respectively. After that, the team will go on to face Netherlands in its first World Cup encounter followed by epic India vs Pakistan match in Ahmedabad on October 14.
There has been lot of security concerns related to Pakistan team playing in India. The animosity between two nations has often led to violence. So it will be a huge challenge for cricket fraternity to keep the political mindset and unnecessary comments out of the game.
The conditions coming in the World Cup will be very much unfamiliar for Pakistan cricket team. However, their captain Babar Azam believes that conditions are irrelevant and not necessarily a topic of concern for the team.
Babar recokns Pakistan is ready for big challenges
“There’s no such pressure. Every player keeps himself ready to perform in every condition, in every country. Most of us have not played in India but the information we have gathered suggest conditions are going to be similar, except in Chennai maybe where spinners get more help,”the 28-year-old spoke to reporters.
“Rest of the venues will have good, sporting tracks. I played the 2019 World Cup as a player but this time I’m leading the side. It’s a big honour for me and our effort would be to perform well and bring home the World Cup.”
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More than challenging pitches, the rival home crowd will pose problems for Pakistan team in the ODI World Cup. It’s not going to be easy for them when the entire stadium will be opposing their presence on the ground.
It is worth noting that Indian government has denied visas to aficionados who have been open heart supporters of Pakistan cricket team.
