New Zealand Turned Down Offer to Tour Pakistan

New Zealand has turned down Pakistan Cricket Board’s offer to tour the country for the T20 leg of the series.

The two teams are scheduled to play in UAE later in the year. It would have been for the first time in 15 years that New Zealand would have travelled to Pakistan. However, it didn’t quite materialise, as New Zealand Cricket turned down the proposal owing to security reasons.

New Zealand will lock horns against Pakistan in October. The full tour will comprise of three Tests, three ODI’s and as many T20I’s.

The tour will go on as per schedule in the United Arab Emirates. PCB had earlier hoped of holding the T20I series in Pakistan. However, it didn’t quite work out in the end following NZC’s refusal.

PCB are disappointed

“At the end of the day, it came down to following the advisory and the security reports we’d obtained. There’s no doubt they (PCB) are disappointed. I think they saw a tour by a country like New Zealand as being a great precedent for them to start to build an international programme back in Pakistan. So they’re disappointed but they’re good guys, we get on really well with Pakistan. I think they’re fully accepting of the decision that we’ve reached,” NZC chairman Greg Barclay was quoted as saying by Newshub.

Ever since the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus back in 2009, UAE has been the adopted home venue for Pakistan. Zimbabwe’s visit to the country a few years ago to play a couple of T20I’s and three ODI’s gave a lot of relief to the countrymen.

However, it was always going to be tough for PCB to convince other big teams to tour the country.

In September last year, a World XI-led by Faf du Plessis played three T20I’s in Pakistan. Even a 2^nd string Windies team played three T20 games in Pakistan earlier this year.

Pakistan further hosted some of the PSL matches. The final of the 2017 tournament was held there. All the knock out matches in 2018 was also held in Pakistan.

It was back in 2003 that New Zealand had visited Pakistan for the last time. A suicide bombing outside their team hotel in Karachi cut short their tour prematurely. However, the PCB feels the situation in Pakistan has improved. Hence, they were hoping to invite a high profile team to tour the nation.

New Zealand decides against touring Pakistan 

“We’re very sympathetic to the plight they find themselves in. We are a member of the ICC; we’re very aware that the ICC are trying to facilitate more international cricket in Pakistan and we’re very supportive of that. But all circumstances considered, we just decided circumstances weren’t right for us to tour at the moment,” Barclay said.

“I can’t comment on the decision process that the West Indies went through, perhaps some of the timings may have been different as well,” said Barclay, who added New Zealand went through an elaborate process before deciding not to tour Pakistan.

“I just know that we went through a very thorough process and I’m comfortable with the decision that we got to,” Barclay further added.