The New Zealand cricket team on Friday (September 17) abandoned their Pakistan tour due to a “security alert” from their government. They were set to play three ODIs and five T20Is across Rawalpindi and Lahore as part of their tour.
After a delay in the toss on Friday for the first ODI, New Zealand cricket released a statement saying the team would be pulling out of the tour.
"I understand this will be a blow for the PCB, who have been wonderful hosts, but player safety is paramount and we believe this is the only responsible option,” said David White, the NZC Chief Executive.
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This could be a huge blow for Pakistan cricket as the safety concern may also see other teams refusing to tour there in the future. After the militant attack on the Sri Lankan team in 2009, Zimbabwe was the first Test-playing nation to visit the country in 2015 for a bilateral series.
England is also scheduled to tour Pakistan in October, followed by Australia in the next 12 months.
The Cricket fraternity reacted to the unfortunate security issue which led to New Zealand calling off the series.
Here are the tweets:
