New Zealand have set a dangerous precedent by unilaterally deciding to abandon their tour of Pakistan, Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan has said.
Wasim said in a statement that he received a call from ESI head of security Reg Dickinson, the security consultant for New Zealand, at 3 am on Friday. He said Dickson told him that the deputy prime minister of New Zealand had been informed by Five Eyes that there was a threat of an attack on the New Zealand team.
Khan said that he then arrived in Lahore and met Dickinson to seek more clarification.
Our security agencies denied the threat. The unilateral decision to end the tour set a very wrong precedent, Khan said at a Zoom press conference on Sunday.
"When we contacted our security agencies, they clarified that there was no security threat to the visiting team."
Wasim said visiting sides have to trust the local security agencies when they are touring.
He warned that this decision will affect the relations between the two boards, adding the visiting players and the security officials of the Black Caps were satisfied with the security arrangements.
"Right now there is no issue of us not playing NZ," Khan said.
"We have a duty to the fans and we have to fulfil that."
He also ruled out players wearing black armbands in protest.
"I think we just need to be very careful in terms of the perspective," he said.
"We don't want to take that route showing any sort of political gesturing and posturing and any sort of visible protest."
Pakistan and New Zealand are due to meet in the Twenty20 World Cup in Sharjah on October 26.
Khan said the abandonment had created "political tensions" in the PCB's relationship with New Zealand Cricket "because the way it was done was disrespectful."