On February 15, 2015, in Adelaide, Australia, supporters of Pakistan’s cricket team celebrate in the stands prior to their side’s match against India in the Cricket World Cup. Photo: Reuters
The foreign ministry of Pakistan has stated that it is “evaluating all aspects” of the country’s participation in this year’s 50-overs World Cup, which will be held in India. Bilateral cricket between the two South Asian neighbors has been halted owing to deteriorating political tensions.
Over the course of the past decade, the only time that these two nations have competed against one another has been in the context of a larger tournament held at a neutral location, and there is still some uncertainty over Pakistan’s participation in the World Cup in October and November.
As one of the foreign ministers who attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit that took place in Goa, India, last month, Pakistan’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari made history by being the first senior Pakistani leader to go to India in the past nine years.
According to the spokeswoman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Pakistan’s position is that “politics should not be mixed with sports.”
In Islamabad on Thursday, Baloch expressed his dissatisfaction with India’s decision to not play cricket in Pakistan due to the country’s policies.
“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 (Pakistan Cricket Board) in due course,” said the team. “We will offer our views to PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) in due course.”
With a little more than three months until the beginning of the World Cup, the tournament’s dates and locations have not been finalized despite the fact that there are questions over Pakistan’s participation in the competition.
India has previously said that they would not be traveling to Pakistan in order to participate in the Asia Cup, which will begin on August 31. In reaction, Pakistan made the threat to abstain from the World Cup in the event that they were unable to get the rights to host the Asia Cup.
In an effort to find a middle ground, the Asian Cricket Council announced that the regional competition will be run using a “hybrid model,” with just four of the matches being played in Pakistan and the remaining nine being played in Sri Lanka.