ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India will face off in a high-octane T20 World Cup clash in October this year, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Friday.
The Super 12 will begin on Oct. 16 and run for a fortnight, with the two groups set to reach their conclusion on the weekend of Nov. 5-6.
Pakistan and India will lock horns in Melbourne on Oct. 23, after qualifying for the Super 12 stage of the 16-nation tournament, which Australia will host for the first time.
“England, New Zealand, Australia and Afghanistan have been drawn together in Group 1, with India, Pakistan, South Africa and Bangladesh heading into Group 2,” the ICC announced.
After taking on India, Pakistan will play a Group B qualifier match on Oct. 27 and a Group A Qualifier match on Oct. 30. Both matches will take place in Perth.
On Nov. 3, Babar Azam XI will take on South Africa in Sydney, followed by a clash with Bangladesh on Nov. 6 in Adelaide.
The high-intensity Pakistan-India match is expected to draw millions of viewers across the globe.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars over the past seven decades, have an intense cricket rivalry and have not played a bilateral series for over five years now due to tense relations.
They have only meet in ICC events, with the last one being the T20 Word Cup fixture in Dubai in November 2021, during which Green Shirts thumped Men in Blue by 10 wickets to record Pakistan’s first World Cup triumph over India.
Pakistan to take on India again in T20 World Cup clash this year
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Pakistan to take on India again in T20 World Cup clash this year
- Pakistan will clash with India on Oct. 23 in Melbourne
- Pakistan recorded their first win over India in World Cups last year in Dubai
Bodies of Pakistani nationals who died attempting illegal migration repatriated from Iran
- Pakistan’s envoy in Tehran warns youth against human smugglers after deaths in harsh weather
- Pakistan reported sharp fall in illegal migration to Europe this year amid nationwide crackdown
ISLAMABAD: The bodies of two Pakistani nationals, who died near the Iran-Türkiye border after attempting to travel illegally to Europe, have been repatriated to the country, said a senior diplomat on Tuesday, reiterating warnings against human smugglers amid an intensified crackdown by authorities in Islamabad on illegal migration.
Pakistan says it has stepped up action against illegal immigration and human trafficking in recent years, reporting a 47% drop in illegal migration to Europe this year and the arrest of more than 1,700 suspected human smugglers, according to official figures.
However, people continue to attempt dangerous irregular journeys in search of work and better economic opportunities abroad.
“The mortal remains of Pakistani nationals Mr. Armanullah s/o Gul Rahman and Mr. Ihtasham s/o Mukhtar Gul, both residents of Nowshera, have been repatriated to Pakistan through Taftan border earlier today,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Iran, Muhammad Mudassir Tipu, said in a post on social media platform X. “Both had fallen victim to the greed of human smugglers and lost their lives in extremely harsh weather conditions near Iran’s border with Turkiye.”
“I once again request the youth back home not to be trapped by human smugglers and instead follow the legal path to travel abroad,” he added, thanking the government of the Balochistan province in Pakistan for arranging the transportation of the bodies and offering condolences to the victims’ families.
The issue illegal immigration has drawn heightened scrutiny since 2023, when hundreds of people, including Pakistani nationals, died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in an overcrowded vessel that sank off the Greek coast, prompting Islamabad to launch nationwide investigations into human smuggling and trafficking networks.
Authorities have since arrested Pakistani and foreign nationals at airports with forged travel documents, highlighting the scale of document fraud linked to illegal departures.
In September, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) released a list of more than 100 of Pakistan’s “most wanted” human smugglers and identified major trafficking hubs across Punjab province and the capital, Islamabad.
Earlier this month, Pakistan announced plans to roll out an artificial intelligence-based immigration screening system at Islamabad airport from January, aimed at detecting forged documents and preventing illegal travel abroad, as part of broader efforts to curb human smuggling and unauthorized migration.
