After New Zealand’s pull out, England to take 48 hours to decide future of their Pakistan tour

England and Wales Cricket Board has refused to cancel their tour of Pakistan even as the New Zealand Cricket "unilaterally" abandoned their tour of the South Asian nation earlier today (September 17, 2021). The ECB said that they would take a decision in the next 48 hours time once they receive the feedback from their security team which is already on the ground in Pakistan.

“We’re aware of New Zealand’s decision to pull out of the Pakistan tour due to a security alert. We are liaising with our security team who are on the ground in Pakistan to fully understand the situation,” Sky Sports quoted ECB as saying.

“The ECB Board will then decide in the next 24-48 hours whether our planned tour should proceed,” the board added.

It was announced last year after Pakistan toured England during the Covid-19 pandemic that England would be reciprocating the goodwill by touring Pakistan for the first time in 15 years. In fact, both the men’s and women’s teams of England are supposed to tour Pakistan for separate series in October.

While the Men’s team would play two T20Is on October 14th and 15th the England Women’s would be indulged in a two-match T20I series as well as a three-match ODI series against Pakistan Women that will go on from October 14th to 22. All the matches would be played at the National Stadium in Karachi.

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PAK vs NZ | Blackcaps abandon entire tour after 'escalation in threat levels' message from government

In a suspicious turn of events at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi, the entire New Zealand tour of Pakistan has been abandoned as the Kiwi team raised concerns related to their security, said the Pakistan Cricket Board. At the same time, the PCB also made its stand clear that the abandonment was a unilateral decision of New Zealand even as Pakistan remained committed to providing full security to the Kiwi team. "Earlier today, the New Zealand cricket board informed us that they had been alerted to some security alert and have unilaterally decided to postpone the series. PCB and Govt of Pakistan made foolproof security arrangements for all visiting teams," the PCB said in a series of tweets. The start first match between Pakistan and New Zealand which was scheduled to be played on September 17 at the Pindi Stadium first saw a delay in the start as no toss took place at the scheduled time of 02:30 pm IST (02:00 pm PST) and players and support staff were asked to remain in dressing rooms. The CEO of New Zealand Cricket on his behalf clarified the Kiwi position saying that "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.” NZC will not comment on the details of the security threat nor the updated arrangements for the departing squad. New Zealand were in Pakistan for the first time since 2003 and they were scheduled to play three ODIs in Rawalpindi and five T20Is in Gadaffi Stadium Lahore.

PAK vs NZ | 1st ODI: Match likely to be postponed as three Kiwi players test Covid positive

In a suspicious turn of events at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi, the first match between Pakistan and New Zealand is likely to be postponed due to three New Zealand players testing positive for Covid-19. No toss took place at the scheduled time of 02:30 pm IST (02:00 pm PST) and players and support staff were asked to remain in dressing rooms. So far there has been no official confirmation either by the Pakistan Cricket Board or by the New Zealand Cricket and media in Pakistan have confirmed it is due to the Covid cases, while some Indian media outlets speculated a possible terror attack as well. Please stay tuned with OneCricket and Cricketexchange’s Live Commentary page here for more updates. New Zealand are in Pakistan for the first time since 2003 and they are scheduled to play three ODIs in Rawalpindi and five T20Is in Gadaffi Stadium Lahore.

PAK vs NZ | 1st ODI: All-rounder Rachin Ravindra all set to make ODI debut

After making his debut in the shortest format of the game at the international level, New Zealand’s all-rounder Rachin Ravindra is all set to make his ODI debut in the first game of the series against Pakistan in Rawalpindi. Ravindra called the occasion as something he always dreamt of and reposed faith in his teammates to win the series against a full-strength Pakistan side in their home conditions. Ravindra will lead the Blackcaps’ batting order along with Fin Allen and he will be hoping to turn things around after struggling with the bat against Bangladesh. However, he will take heart from the good batting conditions in Rawalpindi and a longer form of the game will also give him space to flourish with the bat. New Zealand are without their big players such as the regular skipper Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, pace duo of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, and hence the onus of taking the Blackcaps to a seris win are on the young shoulders of players such as Ravindra.

Former selectors back Rohit Sharma as 'fit choice' to replace Kohli as India's T20 captain

As soon as Virat Kohli announced that he will step down as India’s captain from the T20 format after the upcoming T20 World Cup, speculations and debates on who will be the man to replace him. Kohli’s longtime deputy, Rohit Sharma, who has led the Indian white-ball side in the past in his absence seems to be the frontrunner for the position but the fans and watchers of Indian cricket have not ruled out names who are younger than Rohit and could serve Indian cricket for a long time. People have flooded Twitter with possible names such as KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer as long-term replacements of Virat Kohli, but former chairman of selectors have backed Rohit’s credentials and experience as captain to take over the reins from Kohli. Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the chairman of the selection committee in the year 2008 when both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were new to the international stage has backed the former’s candidature for India’s captain based on his successes with India in the past and the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. “Rohit deserves to be India's next T20 captain because he's done exceptionally well whenever he's been given an opportunity. In 2018, India won the Asia Cup under his captaincy. Besides that, he's been an exceptional captain for the Mumbai Indians,” Vengsarkar told TOI. Another chairman of the selection committee, who gave Rohit an extended run in the side in the years 2012 when the Mumbaikar was going through a tough phase, saw him as a “fit choice” to replace Kohli as India’s leader in the shortest format of the game. "Rohit (Sharma) has done a great job while leading the Mumbai Indians. I feel that he's a fit choice to replace Virat as the India T20 captain. Rohit has proved his mettle," Patil said to TOI. Rohit appears to be the frontrunner to replace Kohli as the skipper himself called him an “essential part” of the leadership group. There is one more T20 World Cup scheduled for the next year and it is likely that the selectors will bank on the experience of Rohit for the big event before placing a bet on young or inexperienced players at the leadership level.