Shoaib Akhtar slams England for cancelling Pakistan tour

Former speedster Shoaib Akhtar has lashed out at England for backing out of upcoming tour of Pakistan.   

England cricket chiefs on Monday withdrew their men’s and women’s teams from next month's white-ball series in Pakistan citing “increasing concerns about travelling to the region” in a bitter blow to the South Asian nation.

In a video on his official YouTube channel, Akhtar said England called off Pakistan tour without properly assessing the security situation.

“After New Zealand, England had made up their mind about not touring Pakistan and that’s exactly what happened. When they needed to evacuate from Afghanistan, they looked towards Pakistan and also travelled in an airline [PIA] they had insulted before. But now they called off the tour even without visiting and assessing the security arrangements, they believed whatever their [security] company told them…” said Akhtar.

“This has tarnished the image of Pakistan. This is not a great news for Pakistan and unbearable for Pakistanis. When you needed to save millions of pounds during Covid-19, you implored Pakistan to tour England,” he added.   

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He also said that if he was the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), he would have severed ties with New Zealand and England.  

“If I was the PCB chairman, I would have told them [England and New Zealand] that we will not play international series with you in the future,” he said.

“If we have to tour England or New Zealand in the future, we will also say that we face the threat of a gunman shooting at us in a Mosque. This is also a genuine threat,” he concluded.

The England tour cancellation is a huge setback for Pakistan, which became a no-go area for international teams after a deadly 2009 attack on the Sri Lanka team bus in Lahore.