Australia’s historic tour of Pakistan will continue despite a suicide bomb blast at a mosque in Peshawar on March 4 (Friday), which is about 184 kilometers away from Rawalpindi, where the first Test is being played between the two teams.
Notably, the attack in Peshawar happened during Friday prayers at a mosque for Shia Muslims, where around 56 people lost their lives inside the mosque, while many more were injured.
The Australian cricket team is touring Pakistan after 24 years, and it was feared that the Peshawar attack may force the touring side to leave the tour, but it is being said that the historic tour will be completed since there is no match in Peshawar with Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi being the venues for the bilateral series.
A PCB source said: “Cricket Australia (CA) is constantly in touch with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), their High Commission and relevant security personnel and there is no danger to the historic tour.”
He further revealed that the CA CEO Nick Hockley and the CEO of the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) Todd Greenberg, who were both in Rawalpindi for the first Test, are constantly in touch with their own security personnel, PCB, and their High Commission.
The source added, “The two officials have been briefed on the incident in Peshawar and it is a process where Cricket Australia, PCB, and ACA are constantly monitoring the situation as it progresses. But the Australians continue to be given state-level security at every step of the tour and they are in a safe and secure environment.”
While the Australian team officials are monitoring the situation and in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the source recalled South Africa’s tour of Pakistan in 2007 for a Test series, during which a series of blasts took place in Karachi, but they completed the tour.
He concluded, “The South Africans continued and completed their tour. The Australians are also in sync with the security given to them and their security team is monitoring round the clock.”
(With PTI Inputs)
