THE much-awaited World Cup fixtures are out, with Pakistan scheduled to play arch-rivals India in a marquee clash on October 15 in Ahmedabad, but it’s still not confirmed whether the team will participate in the tournament.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) revealed the schedule for the 50-over tournament on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after sharing the draft schedule with the cricket boards of all participating teams.

However, the PCB immediately stated that it would still need government clearance for any tour to India, including World Cup match venues.

“The PCB requires the government of Pakistan’s clearance for any tour to India, including the match venues,” PCB Communications Director Sami Ul Hasan said in a statement.

“We are liaising with our government for guidance. This position is consistent to what we had told the ICC a couple of weeks ago when they shared with us the draft schedule and sought our feedback.”

According to the schedule, Pakistan open their campaign by playing the two qualifiers from the tournament in Zimbabwe in Hyderabad on October 6 and 12, before taking on India at the 132,000-seater Narendra Modi Stadium — the world’s biggest cricket venue.

Concerns over venues

Pakistan had earlier expressed reservations to playing in Ahmedabad, the home city of India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The city was the centre of deadly 2002 religious riots in which at least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in communal violence.

The team will then travel to Bengaluru to play Australia on October 20, and onwards to Chennai, where they play Afghanistan on October 23 and South Africa on October 27. Kolkata is the next stop as Pakistan take on Bangladesh on October 31 before travelling back to Bengaluru to face New Zealand on November 4, rounding off their league phase against England in Kolkata on November 12.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had raised concerns over playing in Mumbai and the ICC made sure that Pakistan don’t travel to India’s financial hub.

If Pakistan reach the semi-finals, they will play in Kolkata. If India qualify for the last four, they will play their semi-final in Mumbai, unless the match is against Pakistan.

The announcement of the schedule comes less than four months before the tournament begins with Pakistan and India having been involved in a bitter dispute over the Asia Cup.

India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Asia Cup in August and September, and Pakistan responded by threatening to boycott the World Cup if they were not allowed to stage at least some Asia Cup matches on home soil.

The stalemate was finally resolved this month when Pakistan agreed to split matches with Sri Lanka, where India will play their Asia Cup matches.

Room for change?

A compromise seemed to have been reached only for a change at the top of the PCB.

Najam Sethi, the interim chief of the PCB management committee, stepped down last week, paving the way for Zaka Ashraf — the prime minister’s nominee — to become the country’s cricket chief.

The elections have been stayed by courts but while Mr Ashraf said that he will respect the hybrid model agreed by his predecessor, he has hinted that the decision to send the team to the World Cup would be taken after appropriate consultations.

The PCB, too, has forwarded the list of fixtures to the relevant departments of the government. With the government’s verdict still awaited, it is highly likely for the official World Cup schedule to be altered according to Pakistan’s potential reservations especially if there is serious security-related issue.

“If that happens, it would not be unprecedented,” PCB’s Sami Ul Hasan told Dawn, referring to the change of venue from Dharamsala to Kolkata for the high-voltage India-Pakistan clash in the 2016 T20 World Cup after its official schedule was announced.

“But it has to be noted that the PCB had approached the government for two separate clearances; travelling to India in the first place and then for playing at certain venues.”

When approached for comment, the Foreign Office reiterated the stance it put forth last week, i.e. the country is “observing and evaluating all aspects” relating to participation in the World Cup, including the security situation for Pakistani cricketers and “we will offer our views to PCB in due course”.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2023