Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finally allowed its players to have their families with them during the World Cup in England but only after the match against arch-rivals India on June 16. PCB had allowed the families to stay with the players during the recent five-match ODI series against England but turned down a similar request for the World Cup by skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed last month. According to a PCB official Pakistan players wanted their wives and children to be allowed to stay with them after the June 12 match against Australia. “The board decided to review its earlier decision not to allow players to have their families with them in the World Cup taking into view the trend followed by other teams,” the official told PTI.
The members of the national team were said to be unhappy with the board’s decision not to allow them to have their wives and children with them in the tournament and had made several requests to the board in this regard. PCB had earlier granted permission to only two players, Haris Sohail and Asif Ali, to have their wives and children with them on special grounds. Asif had requested the board after his infant daughter passed away in the USA earlier this week following a battle with cancer. Asif, who will join the team in London Saturday, has been allowed to have his wife with him because of the special circumstances.
“Similarly Haris was also given special permission because of a problem in his family,” the official said. The Board has generally discouraged players from having their families with them on foreign tours as they believe players should not be distracted while representing the country as professionals. Players’ wives and families were allowed to stay with them during the recent bilateral series against England, but the team manager had since informed the players about the new policy. Previously, Pakistan’s players insisted on having their wives during overseas series, and they were allowed to share hotel rooms.