PCB & CWI hold security talks ahead of West Indies tour of Pakistan

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) held talks regarding the security arrangements as the Caribbean side is scheduled to tour the Asian nation in December 2021. West Indies are expected to play three ODIs and as many T20Is during the tour. 

“I had a call with Wasim Khan, the Pakistan CEO, (on Tuesday) morning, to find out everything that had happened during the past week, on the back of New Zealand abandoning their tour and England’s decision not to go there, and to suggest that we have another call later this week with our operational teams to discuss our women's and men's tours that are scheduled for later this year,” CWI CEO Johnny Grave said while talking to Newsday. 

“We’ll speak to our Independent Security Consultants, ESI, who we used back in 2018 when we went to Pakistan,” he added. 

Earlier, New Zealand had pulled out of the limited-overs tour against Pakistan a few hours ahead of the first ODI citing security concerns and this was followed by the England team cancelling their tour to the country. 

Both sides have faced a lot of heat on social media and the issue has boiled over to be a huge talking point about the double standards in world cricket. Several former cricketers have come out in support of the Pakistan Cricket Board citing that the Pakistan national team had travelled under stringent Covid-19 protocols back in 2020, and when the time came to pay them back, both England and New Zealand failed to keep their word.