Earlier today, the New Zealand cricket team abruptly ended its official cricket tour of Pakistan citing security reasons. New Zealand has refused to share the details of the alleged security threat they received.
On Friday a cricket match was scheduled between Pakistan and New Zealand cricket teams in Rawalpindi. However, the cricket commission of New Zealand suddenly backed out from playing further matches including today’s match due to security concerns raised by NZC and the New Zealand government.
On the other hand, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid in a press conference claimed that the cancellation of New Zealand cricket team’s tour is part of a conspiracy against Pakistan. As per credible sources, the New Zealand government was under pressure to cancel this tour following the Afghan debacle. The scheduled series included three ODIs that were to be played in Rawalpindi and five T20s Which were scheduled to be played in Lahore.
NZC chief executive, David White said that “I understand this will be a blow for the PCB, who have been wonderful hosts, but player safety is paramount and we believe this is the only responsible option,”
From the Pakistan side, its information minister Fawad Chaudhary commented that we had arranged a foolproof security system for the international cricket team on which the New Zealand government also expressed satisfaction. Prime minister of Pakistan had personally discussed the security conditions with his counterpart and assured her that there were no security threats or alerts received by Pakistan which has one of the best intelligence networks in the world, Fawad added.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has also declared it a unilateral decision made by NZC. It is indeed a blow to cricket fans in Pakistan and all around the world. Furthermore, the incident can affect the further cricket tours to Pakistan which are scheduled to happen soon in the future.