New Zealand Cricket (NZC) had said that the safety of the players was of paramount importance.
In 2021, the New Zealand Cricket Board (NZC) suddenly decided to cancel its tour of Pakistan just minutes before the start of the match, citing security reasons. This decision of New Zealand caused an uproar in the cricket world, as both Pakistan and New Zealand teams were on the field to play the first ODI in Rawalpindi.
The New Zealand Cricket Board had said that there was a threat to the safety of their players, due to which they have decided to cancel this tour suddenly. It is worth noting that this was New Zealand’s first tour of Pakistan in the last 18 years, which included three ODIs and five T20 matches, but due to security concerns, this tour was suddenly canceled.
According to media reports of the time, a reliable source in NZC had received information about the security threat before the match started. After this, after consulting the security officials deployed for the match and the New Zealand government, the board decided to cancel the entire series and asked the Pakistan Cricket Board to make arrangements to leave Pakistan as soon as possible.
Regarding this matter, NZC Chief Executive Officer David White said at that time – The safety of the players is paramount, and after the increase in the threat level, we felt this was the only responsible step of action.
Huge news this, about New Zealand pulling out of their tour of Pakistan and heading back home. Feel for cricket lovers in Pakistan but since this is because of a perceived security threat, it will impact other teams touring there too
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 17, 2021
There was a big setback to the return of cricket in Pakistan
So after this sudden decision taken by the New Zealand Cricket Board, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had expressed its disappointment. However, despite the tight security arrangements they had made, the board was quite worried about such an incident. But they also later acknowledged the importance of the safety of the players.
It was a result of PCB’s hard work to bring cricket back to Pakistan but this incident suddenly dealt a blow to all the efforts it had made in the past some time.