File photo of Imad Wasim (in green) of Pakistan and Tim Seifert of New Zealand.
Highlight
- New Zealand canceled their limited overs tour of Pakistan citing security threat
- England had followed New Zealand in skipping their short tour of Pakistan
- Tests and ODIs will be part of the World Test Championship and World Cup Super League respectively
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday that New Zealand is set to tour Pakistan in 2023 for a limited-overs series as a make-up tour to skip the 2021 T20I and ODI series earlier this year. . The Kiwis will also play two Tests and three ODIs in December-January 2022-23.
PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said that New Zealand will tour Pakistan for two Tests and three ODIs in December/January 2022-23 and plan to play five ODIs and as many T20Is in April 2023 as part of a future tour schedule. will return for September visit.
“New Zealand’s confirmation reaffirms Pakistan’s status as an important member of the cricket community,” Rameez said in a statement on Monday.
The two Tests and three ODIs in December/January 2022–23 will be part of the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League respectively.
New Zealand had abandoned their limited-overs tour of Pakistan – consisting of three ODIs and five T20Is – before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi, citing a security threat, which the host board said existed. I was not. England followed New Zealand in abandoning their short tour of Pakistan just before the T20 World Cup in October.
Ramiz then took a jibe at both New Zealand and England cricket boards for not playing in Pakistan. On Monday, Ramiz mentioned that Pakistan will host eight Tests, 11 ODIs and 13 T20Is against Australia, England and New Zealand in the period from March 2022 to April 2023.
He said the strong and cordial relations between the two boards resulted in the finalization of New Zealand’s double tour of Pakistan. He thanked his Kiwi counterpart Martin Snedden and the New Zealand Cricket Board for their understanding and support.
Rameez said both the PCB and NZC will continue to work closely to finalize the dates for the series, which will be announced in due course. Back in September, Ramiz went on the offensive when New Zealand returned home from Rawalpindi hours before the first ODI after announcing that the visiting team was a security threat and were returning home.
Later, England withdrew their men’s and women’s teams from the scheduled white-ball tour of Pakistan. Australia is scheduled to tour Pakistan next year for the first time since 1998, followed by England and now New Zealand.
West Indies recently played a T20 International series in Karachi but had to return home without playing an ODI due to multiple COVID-19 positive cases in the spectators’ camp.
International teams have mostly stayed away from Pakistan since the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore in 2009. This forced Pakistan’s national teams to play “home” matches outside the country for more than six years.
(reported by AP)
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