The spirit of deja vu shook the nation on Friday when New Zealand He suddenly pulled the plug on his first tour of Pakistan in 18 years, citing a security alert.
With England’s board yet to make up its mind about what will be their first visit to the South Asian country in 16 years next month, Pakistan’s bumper home season looks chaotic.
This comes as a major blow to the cricket-crazy nation which shook heaven and earth to present itself as a safe destination and secured tour commitments from several major teams.
“It’s been very gut-wrenching,” PCB chief executive wasim khan told a virtual news conference on Sunday.
“We’ve put in a huge amount of work to build our credibility again in world cricket. The rug has been pulled from under our feet as quickly as possible.”
cricket australia Said that he is monitoring the situation and will “speak to the relevant authorities once further information is received” ahead of his scheduled tour early next year.
Cricket West Indies did not respond to e-mails from Reuters asking if he would reconsider his tour of Pakistan later this year, but the atmosphere is not promising.
“New Zealand’s sudden departure has left many scars for us, and we certainly expect that it will not have long-term consequences for us going forward,” Khan said.
With the Taliban coming to power in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistan will have to work extra hard to try to persuade other teams to visit the country.
Shocked by the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009, Pakistan’s ‘home’ matches in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) were played without the support of fans and the PCB earned little in revenue. Khan says Pakistan has no plans to move home games offshore again.
Test cricket returned to the country when Sri Lanka returned in 2019, but PCB officials are aware that tours to England and Australia will only make the country safe.
dangerous precedent
In recent times, teams touring Pakistan were provided with the kind of security usually reserved for heads of state and their cricketing establishment wondered what else they could have done.
Former Test bowler tweeted, “New Zealand just killed Pakistan cricket” Shoaib AkhtarWhile angry fans demanded Pakistan to boycott next month’s Twenty20 World Cup match against New Zealand.
New Zealand just killed Pakistan cricket
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) 1631876485000
The PCB has ruled out the possibility but is angered by New Zealand’s refusal to share the exact nature of the threat that derailed the tour.
“It sets a very dangerous precedent if countries can skip a unilateral tour. Then it affects relationships. Where does this leave us as a sport?” Khan asked.
PCB official said that he will talk extensively on this international cricket council (ICC), seeking to end “inequality” within the governing body.
“Inequality exists, and I don’t care what people say,” said the former British-born chief executive of the English county of Leicester.
“It is easy to walk out of countries like Pakistan without any reason, without any dialogue, without any discussion. This has to stop, because inequality in the world of cricket has to stop.”
Players are already dreading the prospect of resuming playing their “home” games abroad, but Khan said the PCB will not go down without a fight.
“As of now, we have no plans to go abroad to play cricket,” Khan said.
“It’s taken us a long time to return. We’re adamant that we stay safe but of course we also have contingency and backup.”
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