The number of days until the opening match between England and New Zealand can be counted on the fingers of one hand due to how near the World Cup is. However, controversy simply doesn't seem to disappear from the competition. With the scheduling of games now resolved, Pakistan's problems with a delay in obtaining visas is the most recent drama to grip the World Cup. Yes, the Pakistan cricket team's players received their visas on Monday, 48 hours before their flight to India was due, but not before the situation had to be escalated. The PCB had to write to the ICC to request assistance in resolving the problem for the final team that the Indian government had given permission to go.
Concerns regarding Pakistan's visas first surfaced on Friday. The players were intended to go to the UAE for a few days as part of a team-building activity before arriving in India two days before their World Cup warm-up match against New Zealand in Hyderabad, according to the original schedule. Those preparations, however, were unable to be carried out because the visas were still stalled at the Indian High Commission. But there were other issues as well. The PCB expressed its unhappiness at India and the BCCI's indifference when visas were granted to all nine nations except for Pakistan, but as ESPNCricinfo observed, they were also constrained.
The home ministry wrote to the BCCI in the first week of August stating that a security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs is only necessary if there are foreign participants from PRC nations, specifically from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Sudan, foreigners of Pakistani origin, and stateless people, at the event (World Cup). Given the tense past between India and Pakistan and the indifference of either side to visit the other country, there was no way it wouldn't have taken a long time.
*When did Pakistan submitted their visa application?
Teams were given access to visa applications at the end of August, but Pakistan's participation in the Asia Cup caused a delay. Pakistan had asked for permission to submit applications without their passports due to the tournament's unusual hybrid style, which required players to fly back and forth to Sri Lanka for league and Super Four matches. They were forced to wait until the entire squad arrived home to present their passports after their request was rejected down.
The applications and passports were ultimately turned in on September 19. Having said that, there was no official update in the days that followed, which worried the PCB more and more. Not until Monday, when the PCB officially communicated with the ICC over the ICC's alleged lack of reaction, did the visa issuance process begin to pick up speed. All things considered, the fact that Pakistan gained approval for visa clearance within a week is not a huge delay.
*Could Pakistan's late squad announcement have had an impact?
Since the visa applications had already been submitted by the time of the team announcement on September 22, it seems doubtful that the delay was caused by that. In essence, the PCB knew who was going to be in their World Cup starting lineup. Additionally, several teams were revealed considerably later than others, although none of them had any delays.
The Asia Cup and the continuous hostilities between the two nations are the two main causes of the current state of affairs. The visa applications might have been submitted on time if the entire event had been held in Pakistan, eliminating the need for continual travel to Sri Lanka and back. Additionally, a quicker and more efficient process might have resulted from improved relations between the two countries. After all, the cricket teams of India and Pakistan haven't played a bilateral series in each other's nations since 2012, and Pakistan last visited India in 2016 for the T20 World Cup.
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