Pakistan’s pre-World Cup preparations in Dubai have been marred due to Visa delay

The 2023 ODI World Cup is near the corner with less than two weeks left for the marquee event to kick start. All 10 participants are preparing hard to have a successful outing in the month-and-a-half-long tournament, which will be hosted by India from October 5 to November 9. Recently, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced their 15-man squad for the World Cup, with few surprises.

Now the Asian Giants have faced problems while travelling to Dubai for their pre-World Cup preparations. Their trip got cancelled as the team was awaiting visas to India on Friday. The Pakistan cricket team is reportedly the only one among the nine teams that have not received visas yet.

They were supposed to fly to the UAE next week and practice there for a few days before travelling to India in Hyderabad for their first warm-up match against New Zealand on September 29. The Men in Green is scheduled to begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6. They will face arch-rivals India on 14 October at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

Hasan Ali replaces injured Naseem Shah in Pakistan's World Cup squad

Questions have been raised about India-Pakistan political tensions. Travel between these countries has been limited since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, which also halted their bilateral series. Pakistan's last tour of India was in 2012-13 under the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq.

Meanwhile, Naseem Shah picked up a shoulder injury during their Super Four clash against India in the 2023 Asia Cup. The star pacer was ruled out of the World Cup and Hasan Ali was recalled to the squad to replace him. Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq believes Hasan was the best choice to replace Naseem in the 15-man squad.

The two-time Asian champions did not have a good outing in the 2023 edition as they finished last in the Super 4 of the continental event. With the World Cup coming up, they will want to turn things around and perform better in the subcontinent conditions.

Pakistan squad for the ODI World Cup 2023: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Wasim Jr.