Pakistan players will get visas for T20 World Cup

Bengaluru, April 17: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) confirmed that Pakistan's cricket players will get visas to compete in the T20 World Cup to be held later this year in India.

The BCCI's apex council has been told by Board secretary Jay Shah following "government assurances".

Shah told the council in a video conference meeting held where it was also decided that the mega-event will be staged across nine venues with Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium hosting the final.

Nine venues picked to host T20 World Cup in India: Reportshttps://t.co/Grfr9dt99d

— HT Sports (@HTSportsNews) April 17, 2021

The other venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Dharamsala and Lucknow.

"The visa issue of Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear," an Apex Council member told PTI news agency on conditions of anonymity.

"It'll be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it'll be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting."

India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket for close to a decade now due to diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

Pakistan has been demanding assurances from the ICC that visas will be granted to its players for the 16-team extravaganza, which will complete seven editions this year.

The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is scheduled to be held in October.

Currently, none of the Pakistan players are allowed to compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise-based T20 tournament, the 14th edition of which is going on.