Minutes before the start of the first One-Day International, New Zealand abruptly ends their tour of Pakistan.

Image from wisden.com

Due to safety concerns, the All Blacks have canceled their limited-overs trip to Pakistan. This has disappointed the Pakistani cricket community. When it came to the New Zealand Cricket decision, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja was particularly scathing "It's infuriating to abruptly end a tour because of a perceived security danger. This is especially true when it's kept to oneself. What dimension is New Zealand inhabiting? At ICC, New Zealand will get a chance to hear what we have to say."

The trip, which includes three one-day internationals and five Twenty20 internationals, was meant to begin today in Rawalpindi with the first one-day international, but neither squad left their hotel on the morning of the game, and spectators were not permitted into the stadium.

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There was some confusion as to why the delay had occurred, and then an NZC statement was released indicating that "Following an escalation in the New Zealand Government danger levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security experts on the ground," the Blackcaps had opted not to continue their trip.

Kiwi troops in Pakistan are planning to depart the nation in the near future, reports say.

Although there will be a disappointment for the PCB since they have been excellent hosts, player safety is paramount, and we think this is the only responsible alternative," NZC CEO David White said in a statement.

The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, told her Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan, that player safety must be prioritized. According to New Zealand media, she told Pakistan's prime leader, "When I talked with the prime minister of Pakistan, I communicated our appreciation for taking care of the New Zealand cricket team. "Regardless of how disappointed everyone will be, we fully support the choice that was taken. Keeping players safe is of the utmost importance."

This move was deemed "unilateral" by the PCB, who issued a statement in response. After being notified of a security warning earlier today, the New Zealand Cricket Board has chosen to unilaterally postpone the series. "The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Pakistan's government made sure that all visiting teams were safe and secure. We've given the New Zealand Cricket Board our word that we'll do the same. The Prime Minister personally talked with the Prime Minister of New Zealand and assured her that we have one of the strongest intelligence systems in the world and that there is no security concern to the visiting delegation in any way.

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Officials from New Zealand report that they were pleased with the security preparations made by the Pakistani government during their visit. In terms of "foolproof security," the approach to the Rawalpindi stadium had substantially more protection than probably has been seen since cricket has returned to the nation. Roadblocks had been put in place many hours in advance, and thorough security searches had taken place. The New Zealand team arrived in Islamabad on September 11 and trained three times before the first ODI.

This was New Zealand's first trip to Pakistan in 18 years, following a previous trip in 2003. This ODI series was really the continuation of the 2002 visit, which had to be canceled due to an explosion near the hotel the New Zealanders were staying at while in Karachi.

The postponement of the visit would be a source of concern for the PCB ahead of a hectic home international season. The men's and women's teams from England will be in New Zealand next month, but the ECB is using the same security consultants as NZC, raising concerns. Teams from the West Indies, Australia, and New Zealand will all visit Pakistan at some point this season. Heather Knight had mentioned a few days ago that they were awaiting a security update on the Pakistan visit, which is scheduled to overlap with the England men's planned white-ball tour and include doubleheaders for two T20Is in Karachi.

Even though things are shifting rapidly right now, she had previously stated that she and her team were still talking and trying to figure out what would happen next. "So, let's hope everything is okay now. That's not in mine or the team's hands, and the people in charge must make those decisions, but we're in constant communication, and things will move forward in the next weeks, I'm sure."

Recently, there have been a number of international cricket matches played in Pakistan. There have been no security issues on any of these tours since the 2017 PSL final was staged in Pakistan. The West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and South Africa have all visited since then for T20Is, ODIs, or Tests. Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches were played in Karachi in 2018, and the whole tournament was staged there again in 2019. Since Sri Lanka played a Test series in Pakistan in 2019, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has stated its intention to return all of Pakistan's home series from the UAE permanently.

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