Indian blind cricket team denied govt permission to play T20WC in Pakistan

New Delhi: Adhering to the policy of politicising the sport, India has prevented its blind cricket team to travel to Pakistan for the Blind T20 World Cup 2024, fueling controversy surrounding the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.

According to Indian media reports, the defending champion Indian blind cricket team will not travel to Pakistan to play the Blind T20 World Cup 2024 as it has not received permission by the Modi government.

The Blind T20 World Cup 2024 is scheduled to be held in Lahore and Multan from November 23 to December 3, while India would have played the 2024 edition as the defending champion as it won the 2022 World Cup.

While speaking to India Today, Sailendra Yadav, general secretary of the Indian blind cricket association, confirmed the reports that the government denied permission for the team to travel to Pakistan.

The blind cricket team got a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Sports Ministry, but the Ministry of External Affairs did not give permission to travel to Pakistan, he said.

Yadav told India Today that “We were waiting for the last 25 days to get permission from the government to go to Pakistan. Now we can’t wait any longer as the tournament is about to begin. When I talked with the Ministry of External affairs (MEA) on the phone then they told us that we won’t be getting any permission to go to Pakistan and we can cancel your tournament. They also told us that we will be getting an official letter of denial as well. However, we haven’t got any official letter yet but on the basis of our conversation with Ministry of External affairs we’ve decided not to go to Pakistan and we will not participate in the Blind T20 World Cup,”

Yadav while regretting on pulling out of the World Cup claimed that England, Australia and New Zealand will also not be participating in the tournament.

“Along with us, England, Australia and New Zealand are also not coming. It’s a bit sad for cricket in general as cricket is a game for everyone. The match between India and Pakistan is watched intently by fans and both are really good sides. Now Pakistan will get a free walkover and it’s also tragic for the players who’ve been working hard for a long time. The team had to leave tomorrow on November 20 and I don’t think any miracle can happen in such a short period. Hence, we’ve decided not take part in the tournament that is scheduled to be held in Lahore, Pakistan,”

This has fueled the controversy around the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 amid the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed the ICC on November 9 that India would not travel to Pakistan to participate in the Champions Trophy 2025.