Will do everything to prevent cricket being taken away from us, world needs to give us chance to prove: Wasim Akram

Legendary Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram, while expressing his displeasure over New Zealand canceling the tour, said that Pakistan will put all possible efforts into ensuring cricket will be played again at the earliest. Earlier, New Zealand called off their limited-overs series on Friday (17 September) due to security concerns at the Rawalpindi Stadium, the venue of the first of the three-match ODI series.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) released a press release, wherein they mentioned some changes related to security arrangements. The Blackcaps were initially happy with the security protocols in place and gave a nod of approval. But upon reaching the stadium, New Zealand suddenly took a U-turn. A lot of former Pakistani players and current ones expressed disappointment by the vising team’s gesture.

Cricket has returned to Pakistan, with several teams like Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and South Africa agreeing to go on the tour, after the terrorist attack on the team bus that occurred during Sri Lanka’s visit in 2009. Akram, who is clearly not happy with the turns of events unfolded, tweeted how the world has always underestimated our security forces.

“I think the world underestimates how powerful our security forces are. Cricket is more than a sport to us and we will do everything in our power to prevent cricket (from) being taken from us again. The world needs to give us a chance to prove that!,” Akram tweeted on Sunday (September 19).

The former Pakistani fast bowler had also tweeted when New Zealand called off the tour and spoke about top-notch security arrangements in place for visiting teams during their stay.

“Extremely disappointed in NZ choice to abandon the #PAKvNZ tour. Pakistan has proven that our security measures for international games are of the highest order, making Pakistan one of the safest places in the world to play cricket today. I feel we are not hearing the whole story,” the former skipper had tweeted.

Meanwhile, NZC chief executive David White is fully supporting the decision made by the team and has termed it a right move. White also said the reasons why the tour was called off due to security concerns cannot be publicly given.

I think the world underestimates how powerful our security forces are. Cricket is more than a sport to us and we will do everything in our power to prevent cricket being taken from us again. The world needs to give us a chance to prove that!

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) September 19, 2021

Extremely disappointed in NZ choice to abandon the #PAKvNZ tour. Pakistan has proven that our security measures for international games is of the highest order, making Pakistan one of the safest places in the world to play cricket today. I feel we are not hearing the whole story

— Wasim Akram (@wasimakramlive) September 17, 2021