RAWALPINDI – In a surprise development, the New Zealand cricket team Fridaycancelled its tour of Pakistan.
The development took place a few minutes after it was reported that thefirst ODI match between Pakistan and New Zealand was cancelled due tocoronavirus.
An official version of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is released ontwitter. The cricket ground remains empty, with no ground support staff orbroadcast crew available present.
Earlier, sports journalist Alia Rasheed, citing sources, said threePakistani players have tested positive for coronavirus due to which thematch has been cancelled.
However, she said until the PCB releases an official version, people shouldnot jump to conclusions.
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The tourists visited Pakistani after the gap of 18 years. The two sideslast faced off in 2019 during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Birminghamwhere Babar Azam guided his side to a six-wicket victory with a heroiccentury.
Pakistan, currently ranked sixth in the ICC ODI rankings, have a chance toclimb one spot up, provided they beat the visitors 3-0 in the ODI series.The two teams will retain their pre-series rankings in case Pakistan failto achieve the desired result.
New Zealand, the top-ranked ODI team in the ICC Rankings and the 2019 WorldCup finalists, will take to the stadium today with the confidence of a 3-0sweep against Bangladesh in March. The Kiwis will be looking to continuetheir winning streak.
