Ramiz Raja Raises Possibility Of Rescheduled Tour By New Zealand Cricket Team, Briefs Senate

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has spoken of the possibility of the New Zealand cricket team rescheduling its earlier cancelled tour of Pakistan, describing this as “good news.” The possibility raised by the PCB chairman before the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination comes in the wake of great disappointment amongst Pakistani cricket fans on the abrupt cancellation of the New Zealand team's tour while it was actually present in Pakistan, citing security threats. Soon after this, the England cricket team backed out of its own scheduled tour of Pakistan.

Talking to the Senate committee on the circumstances around the earlier cancellation by the New Zealand team, Raja said that the Black Caps had not disclosed this threat to him at that time, adding that “it's not our fault.”

The chairman of the Senate committee, PPP Senator Raza Rabbani, recommended that the PCB ought to reject the New Zealand offer of a tour, in protest against the earlier abrupt cancellation. “What if we do not allow the New Zealand tour?” he asked.

The PCB chairman appeared opposed to such a stance, telling Rabbani: “We have to live with them. But we can tell them that Pakistan can find a time window for the tour at some point in 2022.”