On Wednesday, the Pakistan cricket team was welcomed with generous cheering and loud cheers by hundreds of Indian cricket fans upon its arrival before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, which begins on October 5.
Pakistan’s contingent landed at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad on Wednesday and was offered a generous welcome by local fans who had stood for an hour to witness a glimpse of the cricket superstars from across the border.
Clips posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, showed fans clicking pictures with their phones and calling the Pakistani players’ names to detect their attention as the squad walked past them inside the terminal.
Larger crowds awaited the players outside the terminal and along their way out of the airport.
They let out noisy cheers for Pakistan’s skipper and star batter Babar Azam when he smiled and waved back while heading to the team’s bus.
The squad was set to depart for the United Arab Emirates last week for a two-day team bonding session in Dubai before heading to India, but a visa pause meant the exit was postponed by a few days, leaving the team’s plans in chaos.
Before heading to India, Azam said he hoped Indian fans to support Pakistan despite decades of tense relations between the two nations.
Earlier this week, Azam told reporters in Pakistan, “Most of our matches are sold out, which means Indian fans are eager to see us and support us in the stadiums.
Former players who have toured India have told us to expect Indian cricket fans to cheer for us and greet us with warmth.”
Pakistan is scheduled to play its first warm-up match against New Zealand in Hyderabad on Friday. They kick off their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands at the exact venue a week later on October 7.
