ISLAMABAD:Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday said the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has decided to postpone the series on claimed security concern.
New Zealand Cricket has informed that they had decided to postpone series due to some security concern and it is their unilateral decision, PCB said in a statement issued here.
The PCB and Pakistan government had made foolproof security arrangements for all visiting teams. “We have assured the New Zealand Cricket of the same. The Pakistan Prime Minister spoke personally to the Prime Minister of New Zealand and informed her that we have one of the best intelligence systems in the world and that no security threat of any kind exists for the visiting team,” PCB said.
PCB said the security officials with the New Zealand team have been satisfied with security arrangements made by the Pakistan government throughout their stay here.
“PCB is willing to continue the scheduled matches. However, cricket lovers in Pakistan and around the world will be disappointed by this last minute withdrawal,” the board said.
The New Zealand team was visiting Pakistan after a gap of 18 years. This would have been the fourth time the two sides had met at the Pindi Stadium Rawalpindi in an ODI with Pakistan enjoying a 3-0 advantage. Prior to this, Pakistan and New Zealand have met 19 times in an ODI in Pakistan between 1976 and 2003 with Pakistan winning 16 times.
Pakistan and New Zealand last met in an international 50-over competition during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 when Babar Azam’s glorious century anchored his side to a fabulous six-wicket win at Birmingham.
The second and third ODIs were scheduled to be played on September 19 and 21 at the same venue after which the two sides were to go to Lahore for five T20s from September 25 to October 3.