Champions League T20: Pakistan Twenty20 champions forced to leave Chandigarh hotel
The Faisalabad Wolves were shifted to Mohali after it emerged that their visas were not valid for Chandigarh. The team however was later - Monday evening - granted visa for the Union Territory.
They have got the green signal to compete in the Champions League Twenty20, but Faisalabad Wolves players were on Sunday forced to shift out of Chandigarh after it emerged that their visas were only valid for Mohali.
(Update: The team has been granted visa for Chandigarh. The development took place on Monday evening.)
The team, captained by Pakistan Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, arrived on Saturday after finally getting the visas to travel to India to play in the event starting on Tuesday.
But they were forced to shift out of their hotels here to the clubhouse of Punjab Cricket Association stadium at Mohali due to visa issues.
"The PCA will accommodate them in the clubhouse for today (Sunday) and the BCCI is in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs and the Home Ministry to see that they get visas for Chandigarh also. We are hopeful that it will be done by Monday and they will be shifted back to the Chandigarh hotel," PCA Joint Secretary GS Walia told reporters here.
"There are some issues and they are being sorted out," added Faisalabad coach Naveed Anjum. Faisalabad are scheduled to play a practice match in Chandigarh on Monday.
Kandurata Maroons of Sri Lanka and Sunrisers Hyderabad are the other two CLT20 teams which are currently based in Chandigarh.
Faisalabad were earlier denied visas on the grounds that they faced a security risk in India. It was feared if the Faisalabad Wolves made their way up in the tournament, they would be playing at different cities across India and hence security could have been a problem.
Apart from New Zealand side Otago, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kandurata Maroons are the two other teams that Faisalabad will face in the qualifiers.
Faisalabad will be the second team from Pakistan, after Sialkot Stallions, to take part in the Champions League. The Stallions played the 2012 tournament in South Africa, but failed to qualify for the main round.
Meanwhile, a diplomatic source in Pakistan told PTI that Faisalabad Wolves had not asked for a Chandigarh visa and hence the question of giving or rejecting it never arose.
The source also assured that it won't be problem to give a visa to the team for staying in Chandigarh.
"They didn't ask and we didn't give. Neither the BCCI nor PCB said they would be staying at Chandigarh. If they want, they can get necessary endorsements made in India. It will not be an issue but will just involve some paperwork," the source said.