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PAK vs NZ | Blackcaps abandon entire tour after 'escalation in threat levels' message from government

In an unexpected turn of events, the entire New Zealand tour of Pakistan has been abandoned as the Blackcaps received a strong security advisory from the New Zealand government just on the day the first ODI was scheduled to be played in Rawalpindi. The New Zealand Cricket said that they were informed of an "escalation in the New Zealand Government threat levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security advisors on the ground" that forced them to take the decision.

However, the PCB made its stand clear that the abandonment was a "unilateral decision" of New Zealand even and reiterated their commitment to providing "foolproof security arrangements" to the Kiwi team. 

"Earlier today, the New Zealand cricket board informed us that they had been alerted to some security alert and have unilaterally decided to postpone the series. PCB and Govt of Pakistan made foolproof security arrangements for all visiting teams," the PCB said in a series of tweets. 

The start first match between Pakistan and New Zealand which was scheduled to be played on September 17 at the Pindi Stadium first saw a delay in the start as no toss took place at the scheduled time of 02:30 pm IST (02:00 pm PST) and players and support staff were asked to remain in dressing rooms.

The CEO of New Zealand Cricket on his behalf clarified the Kiwi position saying that "I understand this will be a blow for the PCB, who have been wonderful hosts, but player safety is paramount and we believe this is the only responsible option.” 

NZC will not comment on the details of the security threat nor the updated arrangements for the departing squad.

New Zealand were in Pakistan for the first time since 2003 and they were scheduled to play three ODIs in Rawalpindi and five T20Is in Gadaffi Stadium Lahore. 

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Former selectors back Rohit Sharma as 'fit choice' to replace Kohli as India's T20 captain

As soon as Virat Kohli announced that he will step down as India’s captain from the T20 format after the upcoming T20 World Cup, speculations and debates on who will be the man to replace him. Kohli’s longtime deputy, Rohit Sharma, who has led the Indian white-ball side in the past in his absence seems to be the frontrunner for the position but the fans and watchers of Indian cricket have not ruled out names who are younger than Rohit and could serve Indian cricket for a long time. People have flooded Twitter with possible names such as KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer as long-term replacements of Virat Kohli, but former chairman of selectors have backed Rohit’s credentials and experience as captain to take over the reins from Kohli. Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the chairman of the selection committee in the year 2008 when both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were new to the international stage has backed the former’s candidature for India’s captain based on his successes with India in the past and the Mumbai Indians in the IPL. “Rohit deserves to be India's next T20 captain because he's done exceptionally well whenever he's been given an opportunity. In 2018, India won the Asia Cup under his captaincy. Besides that, he's been an exceptional captain for the Mumbai Indians,” Vengsarkar told TOI. Another chairman of the selection committee, who gave Rohit an extended run in the side in the years 2012 when the Mumbaikar was going through a tough phase, saw him as a “fit choice” to replace Kohli as India’s leader in the shortest format of the game. "Rohit (Sharma) has done a great job while leading the Mumbai Indians. I feel that he's a fit choice to replace Virat as the India T20 captain. Rohit has proved his mettle," Patil said to TOI. Rohit appears to be the frontrunner to replace Kohli as the skipper himself called him an “essential part” of the leadership group. There is one more T20 World Cup scheduled for the next year and it is likely that the selectors will bank on the experience of Rohit for the big event before placing a bet on young or inexperienced players at the leadership level.

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Two chairmen of selectors who oversaw Kohli's rise welcome his decision of quitting T20 captaincy

Ending all the rumours and speculations surrounding the captaincy of India’s white-ball teams, Virat Kohli had on September 16 announced his resignation effective after the upcoming T20 World Cup. The move was greeted with some scepticism around the reasons that would have compelled Kohli to give up leadership from the shortest format at the international level. However, for people who have followed and been an instrumental part of the successful journey of Kohli in white-ball cricket, the movie was on expected lines. Two former heads of the national selection committee at the time when Kohli entered the big stage and flourished have backed Kohli’s move and instead, they have been “expecting” it to happen sooner rather than later. Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the chairman of the selection committee that first picked Kohli for ODI cricket on India’s tour of Sri Lanka said that the “tremendous pressure” of leading in all formats and an underwhelming record in the T20 format as captain would have propelled Kohli to give up captaincy. He also highlighted the empty cabinet of Kohli, who has not won a major trophy as the captain of India or the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, would have also played its part in guiding him towards the decision. There have been questions on the timing of his decision that whether he should have waited for the T20 World Cup to conclude before announcing but for Vengsarkar, Kohli got the timing of his decision“perfect”. He also hoped that Kohli would be able to end the drought of an ICC trophy in his last opportunity in the shortest format. “I was expecting it. He’s been leading India and has been the No 1 batsman in all formats for almost eight years. He’s been under tremendous pressure to perform because we expect a lot from him every time he goes into bat. Besides that, he’s not done exceptionally well in the T20 format as captain. Even in the IPL, he hasn’t led the Royal Challengers Bangalore to a single tournament win. That must’ve played on his mind too,” Vengsarkar said to TOI. “The timing of his decision has been perfect. The only thing I hope now is he wins the World Cup and signs off as an India T20 captain on a high. It could be his last hurrah as T20I captain." Another former chairman of the selection committee, Sandeep Patil, welcomed Kohli’s decision to step down after the T20 global event. Patil had presided over the selection of the Indian team from 2012 when Kohli was rising to new highs with every passing game and earning a name for himself with superlative performances, especially in white-ball cricket. He suggested that relinquishing leadership of the T20 format will help Kohli to give his everything to only his batting which would be crucial for both him and the team in the coming days. “I welcome Virat's step. Captaincy does play on your mind. Captaining the side and concentrating on your batting at the same time is not an easy job, especially as there's so much cricket these days. This step will 100% help him focus more on his batting,” Patil said to TOI. However, Patil pointed out a “communication gap between BCCI and Virat” on this matter as the board had dismissed a TOI report that reported Kohli’s decision before the skipper made his move public. He suggested the BCCI should accept Kohli’s decision as it is purely his call to when to go. "It seems that there's a big communication gap between BCCI and Virat. You can't have Virat say one thing and the BCCI another. Just a couple of days back, there was a story in TOI about him quitting as a white-ball captain to focus on his batting. However, the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal rubbished that news quickly. This is purely Virat's decision, and the BCCI should just accept it,” Patil emphasized. Virat Kohli took to his Twitter account to announce his decision to give up the captaincy of the T20 format after the completion of the T20 World Cup later this year.