Pakistan arrive in Kolkata for ICC World Twenty20

Pakistan men’s cricket team arrived in Kolkata after high drama over the last few days to play the ICC World Twenty20.

Pakistan will play a warmup game against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens on Monday before opening their World T20 campaign against one of the qualifiers on Wednesday. The highly-anticipated India-Pakistan clash will take place on March 19.

Earlier, the Pakistan squad including 15 players, 12 officials and support staff reached the Allama Iqbal international airport, Lahore, amidst tight security and boarded a flight hours after the Pakistan government finally gave the PCB the green signal to fly to India.

Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president Sourav Ganguly said on Friday that he was delighted to host Pakistan for an extended stay in his city while PCB president Shaharyar Khan said Kolkata was one of his most favourite cities and said he was happy to be there.

“I didn’t expect the India-Pakistan game to go out of Kolkata and India with Mr Shaharyar Khan in-charge. I am very happy to see him in India. I’ve known him for so many years now. He is the right man to be at the helm of Pakistani cricket,” Ganguly said.

“We have seen some outstanding Pakistani teams in the past. Some of those teams were just unbelievable. It is already madness in Kolkata before they have arrived. It is the effect of some of the terrific Pakistani teams in the past,” he added.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis said that he had told the players to focus only on cricket and leave security issues to the boards and experts.

“We will take one match at a time and we are not thinking right now about the match against India on March 19. First we have to play Bangladesh and get past them. They are a very improved side now and have been hard to beat at home,” he said.

Meanwhile, there are reports that former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan will be present at the Eden Gardens to watch the high-profile clash.

(With inputs from PTI)