Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has revealed that a “good news” is in the pipeline, which will be revealed in the coming week. He stated that the New Zealand cricket board was working on a new schedule to tour Pakistan after it refused to play the series last month because of “security threats”.
Earlier, on September 11, the New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan for the very first time in 18 years to play five Twenty20 Internationals and three ODIs.
The New Zealand squad had opted out of their tour of Pakistan a few minutes before the start of the first ODI on September 17, leaving the Pakistan’s cricket fraternity disappointed.
According to the New Zealand team had cited a ‘security threat’ as the reason without giving any further justifications.
While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination on Thursday, Ramiz Raja has stated that the New Zealand cricket board was “now rescheduling the tour”.
In this regard, committee chairman Raza Rabbani has suggested the PCB chief not to accept New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan, as a sign of protest.
“What if we do not allow the New Zealand tour?” asked Rabbani.
Ramiz Raja subtly refuted Rabbani’s concern by stating that “We have to live with them. But we can tell them that Pakistan can find a time window for the tour at some point in 2022.”
He added that “if New Zealand were ready to play according to Pakistan’s conditions then we should have no problem”, he added.
He went on to reveal that Pakistan’s cricket affairs were managed through 50 per cent funding from the International Cricket Council (ICC), while 90pc of the ICC funding was provided by India.
It merits mention that the PCB chairman would unveil the blueprint for cricket by next week.
While talking about the tour cancellation, the PCB chief informed the committee that the New Zealand officials didn’t inform him about the nature of the threats, adding that “it’s not our fault”.
During the briefing, the PCB chairman stressed the need for fixing the system, adding that the salaries of domestic cricketers had been raised and they will now earn Rs40 million annually.
He said he had held “positive meetings” with various investors, adding that they were willing to offer money for the betterment of national cricket.
“No cricketer will have to drive a rickshaw anymore,” he said.
The PCB chairman also said those cricketers who had tarnished the country’s image by being involved in match fixing should not be included in the team, adding that unfortunately, “our society sides with such cricketers”.
Raja concluded by stating that work at the schools level would soon begin with an aim to overhaul the cricket structure.
