LAHORE: In the wee hours of Wednesday, the Indian baseball team had arrived at the Wagah border, ready to enter Pakistan to play the West Asia Cup. With them was the Nepal team. But while the Nepalese entered Pakistan for the tournament, which opens on Jan 27 in Islamabad, the Indian security officials stopped their compatriots, asking them to show a NOC issued by the government.

The Indians had only received their visas late on Tuesday and Pakistan Federation Baseball president Fakhar Ali Shah info­rmed Dawn that they were still waiting at the Wagah border.

“Even if they get the NOC on Jan 27, we will adjust the schedule of their matches accordingly,” Fakhar said, infor­ming that Sri Lanka’s arrival had also been delayed and they would fly in on Thursday while Nepal joined Palestine and Bangladesh in reaching Islamabad.

Earlier, Indian Baseball Federation general secretary Harish Kumar, who is accompanying the 20-member squad, had sent a video message to the PFB, saying it was “thankful to the government of Pakistan, especially for their all efforts for the issuance of the visas to the Indian squad”.

Kumar had said they were expected to be in Pakistan by 11:30am on Wednesday but now they are waiting.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2023