‘It's ok if one country is behind us’ – Shahid Afridi urges ‘educated nations’ to not follow India after New Zealand, England cancel Pakistan tour

The last few days haven’t been pleasant for Pakistan cricket by any means.  New Zealand and England were set to play white-ball series in the Asian nation. However, both teams cancelled their set of fixtures due to contrasting reasons. While New Zealand Cricket (NZC) abandoned the tour due to security concerns, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) cited the mental and physical well-being of the players behind their decision.

NZC and ECB’s approaches haven’t been appreciated by many and the two cricket boards have faced flak for the same. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is the latest to speak on the matter. The star all-rounder revealed PCB conducts several rounds of security checks before giving the green signal for a home series. Highlighting the same, Afridi said NZC’s decision is unforgivable.

“We all know that there is a huge amount of scrutiny when it comes to arranging tours. Proper investigations are conducted by the security members of the touring nation. The routes are defined and only when the process is completed, that is when the teams are given the green signal to visit the country,” Afridi told Cricket Pakistan.

New Zealand Cricket’s decision is unforgivable: Shahid Afridi

“New Zealand cricketers are loved in Pakistan and for them to do something like this is unforgivable. If there was any potential threat, they should have been shared with the PCB and waited for Pakistan’s security forces to assess the situation,” he added.

It has to be noted that Pakistan’s information and broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry claimed that New Zealand team had received a threatening E-mail that came from India.  “This email was generated from India through a VPN showing the location of Singapore,” he told reporters.

Reacting to the claim, Afridi said other ‘educated nations’ should not follow India and take a stand as per their understanding. “If you have to look at the bigger picture then I think we need to take a decision which shows the world that we are also a country and we have our pride. It’s ok if one country is behind us but I don’t think other countries should also make the same mistake,” asserted Afridi.

“They are all educated nations and should not follow India. Instead, cricket should improve relations. The situation was bad in India. We were getting threats. Our board asked us to go and we went there. Similarly, during Covid-19, the situation that there was in England, the cricket went on. If you trust false e-mails and cancel tours then I believe you are offering them fodder to win,” he further added.