ISLAMABAD – The New Zealand cricket team hastily abandoned the Pakistantour after the international intelligence alliance advised Kiwis to do so, *NZHerald* reported.
The report quoting sources cited that the security threat issued by anintelligence alliance of New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United States,and the United Kingdom, advised the visitors to quit the series and leavethe country as per the orders.
The New Zealand Cricket said the alert was deemed credible as it led tophone calls between the prime ministers of two countries while theofficials of the Pakistan Cricket Board, New Zealand Cricket also exchangedtheir views on the shocking development.
Earlier, NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also supported the tourcancellation despite getting call from his Pakistani counterpart, saying‘player safety has to be paramount’.
Meanwhile, the visitors, who were due to play three one-day internationals(ODIs) and five Twenty20 internationals (T20Is) during their first tour toPakistan in 18 years, left Pakistan for Dubai on a chartered flight.
The Kiwi players and officials underwent rapid Covid-19 tests at theIslamabad International Airport and were allowed to board the flight afterall the reports came negative amid tight security protocols. They reachedthe airport in a presidential-level convoy while special security units hadtaken control of the route.
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Earlier, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid maintained that Black Caps calledoff the tour in wake of an international ‘conspiracy’ despite Khan’sassurances of security.
This is not the first time, Kiwis act this way as they previously cut shorta tour in 2002 after a suicide bombing outside the team’s hotel in Sindhcapital However, the international matches dried in the country following a2009 terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.
The South Asian country has hosted many countries including South Africa,Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe while the abolition of the recent touris seen as a massive setback as English and Australians are set to visitPakistan in coming months.