![PCB declines over-50s team permission to play Masters World Cup [Image Credits: AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1792650890188_MohsinNaqviPCBchair.jpg?type=hq)
PCB declines over-50s team permission to play Masters World Cup [Image Credits: AFP]
The strained relationship between India and Pakistan is seemingly continuing after the Asian Games 2026, as the bitterness has seeped into other formats as well. Notably, the over-50s team of Pakistan has been disallowed by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi from playing the Masters Cricket World Cup in 2027.
The Mohsin Naqvi-led committee informed the organisers in India that the veteran team would not be travelling to the nation to play the tournament despite assurances from the hosts of maximum security.
Pakistan Over-50s team will not travel to India for IMC 2027
In what can be called an anticlimax, the Pakistan Cricket Board has declined the request from the over-50s team of the nation to participate in the International Masters Cricket World Cup in Hyderabad in January 2027.
The board has informed the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association that permission will not be granted to travel to India.
"We have informed the organisers about our withdrawal from the World Cup so that they can arrange for an alternate team," Fawad Ijaz, who heads the PVCA, said on Wednesday.
As per Ijaz, the hosts and the organisers guaranteed the association that they would grant Pakistan players visas and provide high-level security. The over-50s team then sought permission from the PCB and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior; however, it was outrightly declined by Mohsin Naqvi, the chair of the PCB.
Have Pakistan played the Masters World Cup before?
The tournament was first played in 1973. Since then, multiple editions inviting veteran cricketers to play in the International Masters World Cup have taken place.
Notably, Pakistan hosted and won the inaugural Over-40s Global Cup in Karachi, defeating the West Indies by 152 runs in the final. At the inaugural Over-50s World Cup in 2018, they suffered heartbreak, with Australia winning the final.
However, in the previous edition hosted by Sri Lanka, the team won the tournament by beating the hosts in the final in February 2025.
Nevertheless, the India venue is the only hindrance since the over-40s team of Pakistan is currently competing in the 2026 IMC Over-40s World Cup in Guyana.
