England and Wales Cricket Board has refused to cancel their tour of Pakistan even as the New Zealand Cricket "unilaterally" abandoned their tour of the South Asian nation earlier today (September 17, 2021). The ECB said that they would take a decision in the next 48 hours time once they receive the feedback from their security team which is already on the ground in Pakistan.
“We’re aware of New Zealand’s decision to pull out of the Pakistan tour due to a security alert. We are liaising with our security team who are on the ground in Pakistan to fully understand the situation,” Sky Sports quoted ECB as saying.
“The ECB Board will then decide in the next 24-48 hours whether our planned tour should proceed,” the board added.
It was announced last year after Pakistan toured England during the Covid-19 pandemic that England would be reciprocating the goodwill by touring Pakistan for the first time in 15 years. In fact, both the men’s and women’s teams of England are supposed to tour Pakistan for separate series in October.
While the Men’s team would play two T20Is on October 14th and 15th the England Women’s would be indulged in a two-match T20I series as well as a three-match ODI series against Pakistan Women that will go on from October 14th to 22. All the matches would be played at the National Stadium in Karachi.