Blind World Cup 2018: Venue for India-Pakistan final shifted

Team India has had a brilliant run in the Blind Cricket World Cup 2018 so far. After some stellar performances in the tournament, the Indian team is set to take on Pakistan in the final of the World Cup on Saturday, 20 January. The defending champions were unbeaten in the group stages of the tournament.

They registered wins against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. Whereas, their first match against Australia was washed out due to rain. India beat Bangladesh by seven-wickets in the semi-finals to proceed to the finals. They will be locking horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in the final game tomorrow.

Although Pakistan is the official host for the tournament, India played all their matches in UAE. The United Arab Emirates has been the second home for Pakistan cricket since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009.

No clearance for Lahore to host the final

The final match was to be held at the Gadaffi Cricket Stadium in Lahore. However, due to the political tension between India and Pakistan, it was decided that the match will be played in the UAE. The finals will be played a day ahead of schedule. The initial tournament schedule showed that the finals will be played on 20th January 2018. But it will now the played on 20th January 2018 at the MCC Ground in Ajman, UAE.

Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) General Secretary John David stated that they sought permission from the government to play in Lahore. But, there wasn’t any response from the government and thus it was decided to play the match at a neutral venue.

David said that “If India reaches the final, the team will need the government’s permission to travel to Lahore. CABI wrote to the Ministry of External Affairs in October 2017 regarding the permission, but have not got a response.”

“In case the Indian team reach the final and are not given permission to travel to Lahore, the match will take place in UAE,” he added.