The Indian cricket team withdrew from the T20 World Cup for the Blind after the Ministry of External Affairs denied permission to travel to Pakistan, India Today has learnt The blind cricket team got a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Sports Ministry, but was waiting for clearance from the government.
Sailendra Yadav, general secretary of the Indian blind cricket association, confirmed that the Ministry of External Affairs did not give them permission to travel across the border and told them to pull out from the tournament, which will be hosted by Pakistan from November 23 to December 3.
The decision from the Indian government comes days after the Board of Control for Cricket in India told the International Cricket Council that the Indian men’s cricket team would not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. While the 50-over tournament is unlikely to be held without India, Pakistan Blind Cricket Council had said the T20 World Cup for the Blind might go on without the Indian team.
PBCC Chairman Syed Sultan Shah clarified that Pakistan had issued visas for the Indian team.
Notably, India are the defending champions of the Blind T20 World Cup having won all three editions of the tournament held in 2012, 2017 and 2022 respectively. Back in 2022, India beat Bangladesh by 120 runs in the final to clinch their third successive title at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. After putting up a big score of 277/2 on the board, India restricted their opponents to 157/3 and maintained their unbeaten run throughout the tournament.
