Today's Edition
Abu Dhabi (Aletihad)
The Pakistan cricket team landed in Dubai for a short stop enroute to their high-profile journey to India as participation at the ICC Cricket World Cup. The neighbouring countries are always at loggerheads and so Pakistan had to travel to the UAE before making their way to Hyderabad.
Dubai was also supposed to be the scene for a quick training camp, after the approvals at the government levels to play in the tournament took some time. With injuries to key Pakistan bowlers at the recently concluded Asia Cup, especially to players such as Naseem Shah, the squad was finalised with more delay. As a result, the team members got timed out on the visa process to get some practice in the UAE.
Pakistan will play warm-up matches in the 50-over ICC showpiece event, which begins in Ahmedabad on October 5. The squad members landed in the morning and took the flight to India at 3.15pm UAE time. Hyderabad will be the venue for their first game of the tournament, against the Netherlands, on October 6.
It will be a first trip for most of the young players to India. Pakistan last travelled to India seven years back for the 2016 T20 World Cup.
"We have not played in India before, but we are not taking too much pressure,” Pakistan captain Babar Azam said in Lahore.
“We have done our research. We have heard from our former players that the conditions are similar to what we get in other Asian countries, except for Chennai where the wickets suit the spinners more.”
