Delhi: The Indian team will not participate in the Blind T20 World Cup starting from November 23 in Pakistan. The Indian government has not given permission to the team to go to Pakistan. The Indian Blind Cricket Team had received the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Sports Ministry, but was awaiting approval from the Ministry of External Affairs.

Indian Blind Cricket Association General Secretary Shailendra Yadav said that the Ministry of External Affairs did not allow the team to go to Pakistan and directed them to withdraw from the tournament.

Yadav said, “We have not yet received any official denial letter from the government, but this information has been given verbally. We were waiting for the government's approval for the last 25 days, but the tournament is about to start and waiting is no longer possible. The Ministry of External Affairs informed over phone that we will not be allowed to go to Pakistan and an official letter will also be sent to us. However, the letter has not been received yet. Based on this we decided not to participate in the tournament.”

Yadav informed that apart from India, England, Australia and New Zealand will also not participate in this tournament. He said that it is sad that the hard work of the players has gone in vain. Matches between India and Pakistan are always exciting, but now Pakistan will get a walkover.

Earlier, BCCI had informed ICC that the Indian men's team will not travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2025. However, it is considered difficult to organize this 50 over tournament without India.

India's dominance in the World Cup

It is noteworthy that the Indian blind cricket team is the last champion. India has won the title in the 2012, 2017 and 2022 editions. In 2022, India won the trophy for the third consecutive time by defeating Bangladesh by 120 runs at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.