The wicketkeeper of the Pakistan women’s cricket team, Gull Feroza, recently aired her views regarding the forthcoming ODI World Cup, stating that their team is ready for the challenge of performing in Asian conditions; just not India. She made herself clear regarding Pakistan’s reluctance to play in their neighbor’s territory, especially with the ongoing contention between the two nations following the Pahalgam terrorist assault.
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In a recent setup by the International Cricket Council (ICC), all India-Pakistan matches will now be played at a neutral venue if one country is hosting a multi-national tournament. This change came about after India declined to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and instead sought a match in Dubai.
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Feroza told PakPassion, “We know we’ll be playing in Asia, but it’s not happening in India. It’s pretty straightforward. We don’t want to play there.” She had wished that the matches could be held in Sri Lanka or Dubai, as those two grounds would be similar to the conditions found in Asia. She also made it a point to mention that her team had done extremely well during their home qualifiers in preparing pitches for their game.
As India will be hosting the Women’s World Cup in September, Pakistan qualified for this tournament after winning all five matches in the qualification rounds. Mostly, the chances of the Pakistan women’s team touring India have been dismissed. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Mohsin Naqvi confirmed that the team will not travel to India. “Just like India didn’t play in Pakistan for the Champions Trophy and opted for a neutral venue, we will do the same for our matches,” he stated.
The next line of action is for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the ICC to agree upon where these neutral matches will be played. The relations between the two countries remain tense meanwhile, with reports of unprovoked firing along the Line of Control. Indian military sources mentioned that the troops retaliated against skirmishes after clashes continued for a second night, following the painful Pahalgam terror attack that had taken the lives of 26 civilians.
