Lahore
New Zealand cricket will tour Pakistan as per schedule, the sources said on Friday. The New Zealand Cricket board did not make any change to the tour schedule to Pakistan this year.
A local TV reported that the New Zealand squad was busy in preparation for upcoming tour to Pakistan.
According to the sources, New Zealand will tour Pakistan as per schedule.
“The New Zealand’s squad will departure for its tour to Pakistan and Bangladesh on Monday,” said the sources.
First First the squad will tour Bangladesh to play T20I till Sept 10 and then will arrive in Islamabad on Sept 11. Kiwis will play three ODIs and five T20Is against Pakistan in Rawalpindi and Lahore respectively.
Earlier, the media reports had claimed that New Zealand tour to Pakistan was hanging in doubts after Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
Dispelling the impression that the visit of Reg Dickason — a long-time independent security consultant for New Zealand Cricket (NZC) — to Pakistan next week was related to the situation in neighbouring Afghanistan, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday said that Dickason was “always scheduled” to visit the country as part of NZC’s tour protocols.
During his visit, Dickason would inspect the stadia in Rawalpindi and Lahore and report back to New Zealand Cricket, the spokesperson said.
“The PCB remains confident the tour will take place and is already working hard to make it a success,” the spokesperson affirmed.
“Dickason’s tour was always scheduled in late August, following his visit to Bangladesh, and is not related to the latest developments in Afghanistan,” he further said.
The PCB spokesperson’s comments came after some local and international media outlets reported that New Zealand’s tour to Pakistan — the first in 18 years — was uncertain amid the situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul earlier this week and declared that the war was over.
Dickason is also a security consultant for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and will submit a report to them as well, the PCB spokesperson said.
England’s men and women teams are due to tour Pakistan in October..
NZ series schedule
11 Sep – Arrival in Islamabad
12-14 Sep – Room isolation
15-16 Sep – Training/practice/intra-squad match
17 Sep – 1st ODI, Rawalpindi
19 Sep – 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi
21 Sep – 3rd ODI, Rawalpindi
25 Sep – 1st T20I, Lahore
26 Sep – 2nd T20I, Lahore
29 Sep – 3rd T20I, Lahore
1 Oct – 4th T20I, Lahore
3 Oct – 5th T20I, Lahore.—APP
