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BCCI official denies involvement in cancellation of England, NZ’s Pakistan tours

Pakistan government had claimed that threatening emails had originated from India

BCCI official denies involvement in cancellation of England, NZ’s Pakistan tours PHOTO: Reuters

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently suffered a huge blow with the cancellation of the New Zealand and England's respective tours. This sparked a huge controversy and India's name was dragged into the conversation as well.

The New Zealand team management citied 'security threats' as the reason behind their cancellation of the tour.

Fawad Chaudhry, minister of Information and Broadcasting, singled out India as the culprit behind these bogus security threats.

“The email [containing the security threats] was sent from an associated device in India using VPN, showing IP address location of Singapore,” said Fawad.

READ MORE: Threatening email received by New Zealand Cricket originated from India: Fawad

This, however, did not sit well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) who categorically denied any involvement. A senior BCCI official told IANS that Pakistan has an old habit of 'using' India's name in all their 'big or small news' that too without any proof.

"We wish Ramiz Raja good luck that Pakistan cricket reaches new heights under him. We want to clear one thing that the BCCI has no role in the cancellation of England and New Zealand tour to Pakistan," the official said.

Meanwhile, former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar had claimed that this is a clear attempt to "isolate Pakistan once again" and Pakistan should do everything in its power to push back. Speaking on PTV Sports, Akhtar also hinted that India's involvement is written all over this.

"I don't know why some ex-Pakistan players are cursing the IPL for no reason? I read somewhere that Raja said that the Aussie players have even changed their DNA for the sake of the money they make by playing in the IPL. He accused Aussies of playing happily against India without their usual aggressive approach," the BCCI official further stated.

The official added that, "We understand that you are feeling bad but there is no need to drag India everywhere."