Ramiz Raja notifies the Senate that New Zealand is ready to tour Pakistan once more

New Zealand is ready to play another series in Pakistan after returning on September 17 without playing the scheduled three-match ODI series and five T20Is. Ramiz Raja, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), stated this during his briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC). The New Zealand cricket squad had arrived at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium earlier, but security plans had gone wrong.

Later, the New Zealand Cricket (NZC) issued a press release revealing that the team is returning home owing to security concerns that they will not discuss publicly. Raja, on the other hand, told the Senate during an in-depth briefing that NCZ is eager to visit the country again. In addition, the former Pakistan captain stated that an official confirmation will be forthcoming soon.

The New Zealand Cricket Board has stated its willingness to resend its team to Pakistan, with an official decision due in the coming days. When will we be able to accommodate them? According to International The News, Raja added, “It’s a question to which we’ll have a response after we get the whole picture from the NZ Board.”

The head of the Senate committee, Raza Rabbani, recognised the gravity of the issue and stated that New Zealand needs to tour Pakistan following the events. “We’d look into it,” the PCB chairman continued, “and your notion has a lot of merit.”

Ramiz Raja further revealed that he has written a letter to ICC Chairman Greg Barclay, who is also a former New Zealand cricket administrator. In the letter, the PCB chairman stressed the importance of cricket not being submissive to parties or countries.

“In my letter to the ICC Chairman, I used words that I had never used before. I did so because we believe we were robbed in front of the game’s regulatory body, which was only an observer. International cricket concerns me because it is rapidly assuming the shape of chunks rather than a single unit. It’s a worrisome trend, and the ICC is merely observing it. Cricket should not be subordinated to groups and countries with larger economies or interests”, according to Raja.