Pak threatens to push for T20 WC relocation if India fails to provide assurance over visas

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani has threatened to push for the relocation of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup from India if the BCCI fails to provide a written assurance over granting visas to its touring team, fans and journalists for the mega event. The PCB chairman has claimed that it has expressed its concerns to the ICC, adding that there is a need to change the 'Big Three' mindset. After a rejig in the World Cup schedule due to the Coronavirus pandemic, India is set to host the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup between October and November 2021. 

"We are not seeking written assurance for the visas of the national team only, but for the fans, officials and journalists as well. We have told the ICC that India should give written assurances by the end of March so that we know where we stand or we will push for the relocation of the World Cup from India to UAE," PCB chairman Ehsan Mani told reporters in Lahore, as per PTI. 

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Pakistan cricketers to get vaccinated

Elaborating on PCB's insistence of a written assurance, Mani said that it was necessary given the 'existing relationship' between India and Pakistan. The PCB chairman also said that the country plans to run cricket 'without India' in absence of bilateral cricket between the two countries. 

Meanwhile, he added that cricketers of the national team would be administered with the COVID-19 vaccines by the month of March and revealed that the upper brass was in contact with the National Command Operation Centre, which is coordinating Pakistan's coronavirus response. Mani said that the PCB had worked a lot in getting teams to resume touring Pakistan for Test and white-ball cricket.

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Commenting upon Australia's decision to pull out of the South Africa tour at the last minute, Mani expressed his disappointment and cited Pakistan's tour of England in 2020 as an example. Speaking about this year's Asia Cup, he said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had created a window for the event, which will be held in the T20 format. Last year, the Asia Cup had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

India is becoming a top team: Pak PM

Terming India as the 'top team' in the world right now, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan compared the two neighbouring cricket nations on Sunday as he highlighted where the Men in Green lacked in today's world. Pointing out at the 'non-productive cricket structure,' Imran Khan exuded confidence in Pakistan to jump up the ranks in world cricket with a bit of structuring and polishing talent. 

Imran Khan, who is a former cricketer himself, also is the patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Cricket Board and nominates the chairman of the national cricket board. Claiming that there is more 'talent' in Pakistan than in India, the Pakistan Prime Minister said that with the provincial cricket structure in place now in the country, results will come through in two to three years' time. 

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