"Evaluating all aspects relating to our participation in World Cup, including security" - Pakistan foreign ministry

The Pakistan foreign ministry has issued a statement in which it has specified that it is evaluating all aspects with regard to its cricket team’s participation in the 2023 ICC World Cup to be held in India later in the year.

The statement comes days after reports that Pakistan want venues swapped for World Cup matches against Australia and Afghanistan. As per the draft schedule, they are supposed to take on Australia in Bengaluru and Afghanistan in Chennai.

Pakistan foreign ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was quoted as saying by media reports:

"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."

The statement also termed India's policy of not playing cricket in Pakistan as ‘disappointing’, adding that ‘politics should not be mixed with sports’.

The uncertainty over venues for Pakistan’s 2023 World Cup matches has led to a delay in announcing the schedule for the ICC tournament, which is to be played in India in October-November.

India and Pakistan have not met each other in a bilateral series for more than a decade. The arch-rivals only clash in ICC events and the Asia Cup, which is organized by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

In a significant development, prominent Pakistan leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari was part of a delegation of foreign ministers that visited Goa last month for a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This was the first time in nine years that a senior Pakistani leader had paid a visit to India.

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India-Pakistan will meet in the Asia Cup ahead of the World Cup

In a dress rehearsal of sorts, India and Pakistan will meet in the Asia Cup 2023 ahead of the World Cup in India. The two arch-rivals have been placed in the same group for the tournament.

Pakistan were supposed to host this year’s edition of the Asia Cup. However, the competition will now be played in a hybrid model, with four games in Pakistan and nine in Sri Lanka. The arrangement was put in place following India’s refusal to play in Pakistan.

Asia Cup 2023 will be held from August 31 to September 17.