'Failing a member of cricket fraternity' - PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja expresses disappointment after ECB cancels tour

On Monday, September 20, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that it has decided to pull out of their next month’s tour of Pakistan. The England men’s and women’s teams were scheduled to play the white-ball series in Pakistan in October. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja took to Twitter after the news arrived to express his disappointment.

Just a few days back, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) decided to pull out of their tour to Pakistan, only hours before the first game in Rawalpindi. The NZC later revealed that they had intelligence on the ground, which issued a terrorist threat looming large. Raja was disappointed then as well and had expressed this on Twitter. 

After this incident, everyone expected the ECB to follow the steps of NZC to abandon their tour to Pakistan. But, in an interesting twist of events, ECB has not cited security concerns as the reason for pulling out. The board informed that it took the decision of pulling out keeping in mind the physical and mental well-being of its players. 

"We can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip."

🇵🇰 #PAKvENG 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 20, 2021

A wake-up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world: PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja

It also revealed that ECB feels travelling to Pakistan just before the T20 World Cup won’t be the best decision as it came in behind the preparations. Despite this explanation, it should be noted that the women’s team, which doesn’t have a major event now, was supposed to play two T20Is and three ODIs. The men’s team was supposed to play only two T20Is. 

Raja said that this is a wake-up call for the Pakistan team to become the best team in the world. “Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah. A wake-up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses,” he wrote on Twitter. 

Disappointed with England, pulling out of their commitment & failing a member of their Cricket fraternity when it needed it most. Survive we will inshallah. A wake up call for Pak team to become the best team in the world for teams to line up to play them without making excuses.

— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) September 20, 2021

What is also worth noting is the fact that the Pakistan team had travelled to England to help ECB save their potential losses during the last summer. Despite the pandemic, without vaccination, the Pakistan team went to England. Even this year, they travelled to play white-ball matches.