PCB

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The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), on Monday, pulled out of the Pakistan tour scheduled for October. They cited the physical and mental well-being of players as the reason for this decision. Meanwhile, the PCB has expressed displeasure and criticized the ECB for their decision. A few days back, New Zealand abandoned their tour of Pakistan minutes before the start of the first ODI in Rawalpindi.

Notably, this decision from ECB has not gone well with the Pakistani supporters as well as some of the cricketers. Pakistan team captain Babar Azam tweeted expressing his disappointment over this decision. “Disappointed, yet again. We have always tried to accommodate the interests of the game but others simply don't. We have come a long way in our cricketing journey and it will only get better with time. We will not only survive but thrive as well. In insha’Allah,” he tweeted.

Apart from him, PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja also shared his thoughts. Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Amir, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, and others also backed the Pakistan team to make a comeback and target the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021, scheduled to take place next month.

Check out the tweets here:

The mental and physical well-being of our players remains our highest priority: ECB

The ECB released a statement on Monday calling off its Men’s and Women’s tour of Pakistan. “The ECB Board convened this weekend to discuss these extra England Women's and Men's games in Pakistan and we can confirm that the Board has reluctantly decided to withdraw both teams from the October trip,” read a part of the statement.

It further stated that the physical and mental well-being of the players and support staff remains our highest priority. “We know there are increasing concerns about traveling to the region and believe that going ahead will add further pressure to a playing group who have already coped with a long period of operating in restricted Covid environments,” it said. Earlier, NZC abandoned their tour citing security threat as the reason.