Stating over the cancellation of New Zealand and England cricket tours to Pakistan, prime minister Imran Khan said that no one would "dare do that to India" due to the power and financial resources" of their cricket board, reported local media.
In an interview with Middle East Eye, Khan said that “There is still this feeling in England that they do a great favour to play countries like Pakistan”.
He also said that England would not have dared to do the same to India “because they know that, [with] the sums involved, India can sort of produce much more money. Money is a big player now for the players as well as the cricket board. [The] Indian cricket board is the richest, so India basically controls world cricket.”
ANI adds: Khan said: "No one would dare do that to India due to the power and financial resources of the Indian cricket board", according to Dawn. He also emphasised that the England and New Zealand cricket teams had let themselves down by cancelling the tours.
Underlining that he has observed Pakistan-England cricket ties for years, Khan said: "I think there is still this feeling in England that they do a great favour by playing for countries like Pakistan."
New Zealand cricket team in September abandoned its tour of Pakistan following its government's security alert in September. And a few days later on 20 September, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that they have withdrawn from the Pakistan tour in October.
NZC said in a statement, "However, following an escalation in the New Zealand Government threat levels for Pakistan, and advice from NZC security advisors on the ground, it has been decided the BLACKCAPS will not continue with the tour."
NZC chief executive David White said it was simply not possible to continue with the tour given the advice he was receiving.
New Zealand was slated to play their first match on Pakistan soil since 2003.
Earlier this year, ECB had agreed to play two additional T20 World Cup warm-up games in Pakistan in October, adding a short women's tour with double headers alongside the men's games.
As per the official statement from the ECB board, "The mental and physical well-being of England's players and support staff remains the highest priority of ECB."
"We know there are increasing concerns about travelling 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," the statement added.