Pakistan gets govt nod to play World T20 in India

ISLAMABAD: After having a reported telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Friday gave the 'green signal' for the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the World T20 being held in India.

The team is likely to depart tonight or tomorrow morning for Kolkata, announced Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Executive Committee Chairman Najam Sethi. 

The decision had been pending in light of security concerns for the Pakistani team in India.

Sethi told journalists on Friday evening that following a meeting between the Pakistan High Commissioner in India Abdul Basit and the Indian Home Secretary, India assured that Pakistan will be provided security during the tour. 

Pakistan had earlier said its men´s and women´s teams would travel to India only after New Delhi gave a public guarantee on the safety of its players.

"The interior minister has given permission to send the Pakistan cricket team to play the Twenty20 on the basis of solid assurances received from chief minister of West Bengal and the...union home secretary and the home minister (in India)," Sethi told reporters.

"The team is completely ready and hopefully they will fly to Dubai tonight and then from there will leave straight for India," Sethi added.

The March 19 clash between India and Pakistan has already been shifted to Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, following Pakistan´s security concerns over the original venue Dharamsala in Himachal Pardesh.

India´s Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday Pakistan should not worry about their players´ safety.

"Why only Pakistan? Whoever comes here, India provides them security. There is no reason to be worried about security here," Singh told reporters in New Delhi.

PCB chairman Shahryar Khan told reporters in Lahore that the players were given the pullout option if they felt any security threat but all 15 squad members wanted to play in the tournament.

"We want cricketing ties to remain active...Our hope is that our cricketing relations (between India and Pakistan) remain intact," Khan said.

Former champions Pakistan, who lost to India in the final of the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, begin their campaign with on March 16 against a qualifying team in Kolkata– Reuters/Geo