World Cup showdown looms after cancelled Pakistan tour

Former Pakistan players have urged the current team to "vent their frustration and anger" at the upcoming T20 World Cup after New Zealand withdrew from their tour of the Asian nation due to security concerns.

PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said New Zealand's abrupt withdrawal from its tour, which he labelled a "unilateral" decision, has put an unwanted question mark over Pakistan's ability to host international matches.

A 33-member Black Caps squad flew out of Pakistan on Saturday after the tour was abandoned just minutes before the start of the first one-day international in Rawalpindi on Friday.

Pakistan are due to play New Zealand in a World Cup group game on October 26, two days after they take on rivals India in their tournament opener. 

Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said the Pakistan players should use the match to "respond to them with full strength".

Raja added the best way for the players to respond to the development is to perform well on the field.

"I want to say to my cricket team: vent your frustration and anger by performing well (at the World Cup)," Raja said. "When you become the best team, everybody will want to play against you.

"We should learn from this and move forward, we don't need to get disappointed."

New Zealand's withdrawal has put in doubt England's short tour to Pakistan in October for a two-match Twenty20 series before the World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

The England Cricket Board has said it will make a decision on the tour to Pakistan this weekend. Both England men's and women's teams are scheduled to tour Pakistan next month.

Australia is slated to tour Pakistan in February-March 2022, marking their first visit since Mark Taylor's remarkable unbeaten 334 on a tour in 1998.

There had been productive talks between Cricket Australia (CA), whose former chief executive Kevin Roberts visited Pakistan in 2019, and the PCB.

A CA spokesperson said on Saturday the organisation is monitoring the situation and will "talk with the relevant authorities once more information becomes known".

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) has not revealed the specific nature of the security alert from its own government that prompted the decision to cancel the tour, during which the Kiwis were scheduled to play three ODIs in Rawalpindi and five Twenty20s in Lahore.

A government minister in Pakistan said New Zealand was wary of attack outside the stadium in Rawalpindi.

Raja said he was disappointed New Zealand did not share details of the security threat with either the PCB or the Pakistan government. He plans to raise the issue with the International Cricket Council.

A NZC statement on Sunday said: "While the general tenor of the threat was immediately shared with the PCB, (NZC CEO David) White reiterated that specific details could not, and will not, be disclosed – privately or publicly".

"What I can say is that we were advised this was a specific and credible threat against the team," White said.

"We had several conversations with New Zealand government officials before making the decision and it was after informing the PCB of our position that we understand a telephone discussion was conducted between the respective Prime Ministers.

"Unfortunately, given the advice we'd received, there was no way we could stay in the country.

"Everything changed on Friday. The advice changed, the threat level changed and, as a consequence, we took the only responsible course of action possible.

"We appreciate this has been a terribly difficult time for the PCB and wish to pass on our sincere thanks to chief executive Wasim Khan and his team for their professionalism and care."

Raja, who was elected PCB chairman last Monday, also expressed frustration that New Zealand pulled out despite spending five days in the federal capital and having two training sessions at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

"There's a lot of pressure created on Pakistan cricket and (especially) Pakistan cricket at home," he said.

"The fight to survive is the base on which we challenge the whole world. If such a situation is developed (again) when international cricket comes under pressure in Pakistan, we will challenge them once again."

Raja, a renowned cricket commentator known in the cricketing fraternity as the "Voice of Pakistan", appealed for the country's fans to help the team come out of this crisis.

"Your pain and my pain are the same, it's a shared pain," he said. "Whatever happened is not good for Pakistan cricket ... The point is that we have experienced this before but we have to move forward."