Pakistan cricket team arrived in India for the first time in seven years on Wednesday, September 27 ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. With the bilaterals completely called off given the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the two cricket teams haven't travelled to the neighbouring countries for a long time and hence, this trip to India for the World Cup is a historic one as the last time Pakistan played here was back in 2016 during the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan team landed in Hyderabad amid a warm welcome as several Pakistan fans and even the Indian fans wanted to get a glimpse of Babar Azam and Co. for the first time in India in several years. The fans were excited to see their favourite stars as the Men in Green begin their World Cup campaign in a couple of days' time. The bus driver, the security and police personnel were all excited as the videos of the players' arrival have gone viral on the internet.
Watch the video here:
After a delay in visa forced them to rejig their plans, Pakistan will hope to ignore all the distractions when they begin their campaign with two warm-up matches in Hyderabad against New Zealand on Friday, September 29 followed by another against Australia on Tuesday, October 3. Pakistan begin their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on October 6, followed by the second game against Sri Lanka on October 10,
All four matches take place in Hyderabad before Pakistan fly off to Ahmedabad for the marquee clash against India on Saturday, October 14.
Pakistan World Cup 2023 squad: 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, Mohammad Wasim.
Reserves: Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Haris, Zaman Khan
