New Zealand Tour Of Pakistan Likely To Be Rescheduled In November 2022

New Zealand Cricket is in thoughts of rescheduling the Pakistan tour, they had cancelled last month at the very last minute.

New Zealand were supposed to play three One-Day Internationals and five T20I matches in Pakistan in the September-October window.

On September 17, the matchday for the 1st ODI, the New Zealand cricket team pulled out of the tour citing serious security threats they received from their government officials.

The abandonment of the limited-overs tour not only hurt the players and the fans but also had a negative impact on the PCB officials. Days after the Black Caps left, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were the next to pull themself out of both men and women’s tour in October.

PCB’s newly appointed chairman Ramiz Raja felt aggrieved with the entire incident and said that it felt like they were being used by the two boards.

Ramiz Raja says PCB to propose New Zealand Cricket November 2022 window for the tour

In the latest developments, it is learnt that both NZC and PCB are eyeing to reschedule the tour for November 2022.

“Good news will be announced within a week. The PCB may put forward its terms before the NZC by choosing the month of November in 2022 for the rescheduling of the recently postponed series,” Ramiz Raja was quoted as saying by Geo News. 

Just after cancelling the tour, New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White thanked their counterpart PCB for taking care of the New Zealand cricket team.

“We appreciate this has been a terribly difficult time for the PCB and wish to pass on our sincere thanks to chief executive Wasim Khan and his team for their professionalism and care,” White had said in an official statement.

There were talks held between Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Imran assured that his country had the best Intelligence systems in the world and that no security threat would harm the visiting team.

Ardern supported New Zealand Cricket’s decision and said that the safety of the players is paramount.

There was no way we could stay in Pakistan: David White

White mentioned that before cancelling the tour, the board was in constant touch with their government officials and when they were advised about a credible threat, they decided to leave Pakistan.

“What I can say is that we were advised this was a specific and credible threat against the team. We had several conversations with New Zealand government officials before making the decision and it was after informing the PCB of our position that we understand a telephone discussion was conducted between the respective Prime Ministers,” White mentioned.

“Unfortunately, given the advice we’d received, there was no way we could stay in the country.

“Everything changed on Friday. The advice changed, the threat level changed and, as a consequence, we took the only responsible course of action possible,” he added.

New Zealand and Pakistan cricket teams will meet in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 as both are paired in Group 2 of the Super 12 stage.

Also Read: Pakistan Might Take Legal Action Against England And New Zealand Cricket Boards – Fawad Chauhdry