Pakistan puts World T20 plans on hold till “security clearance”

With the uncertainty over the India-Pakistan match at Dharamsala on March 19 growing day by day, Pakistan interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told Pakistan media that a security team will visit India to assess the security situation before giving the go ahead to the team.

"A three-member security team will depart for India on Monday to look into the security situation," Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a press conference in Islamabad.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson Amjad Bhatti told Hindu that verbal assurances from the other side of the border won’t be enough, and strong security measures are needed to send the Pakistan team to India for the ICC World T20.

“We want a guarantee that can be given at the government level. Security agencies should also be involved as they have a proper idea of the threat perception. One paramilitary force alone cannot provide adequate security,” Mr. Bhatti told The Hindu from Lahore.

PCB on Saturday also stopped the women’s cricket team from going to India with no written security assurances coming from the BCCI or the Indian government.

The controversy over security came to the fore on Tuesday, when Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh expressed the State government’s inability to provide security to the Pakistan cricket team for the marquee clash against India on March 19. Although BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur and IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla assured foolproof security to the Pakistan team, PCB chief Shahryar Khan had threatened to pull out of the World T20 on Thursday if no written security assurances are made from the other side of the border.