LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan assured the British High Commissioner Christian Turner and chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja that his party’s long march will not interfere with the first cricket Test between Pakistan and England in Rawalpindi.
The PTI has said that it will start a long march against the present government on November 26 from Rawalpindi.
Prior to this year’s T20 World Cup, England visited Pakistan after a long absence of 17 years to play a seven-match T20 series, which the visitors won 4-3. The second part of the English Test team’s trip of Pakistan will include three Test matches in Rawalpindi (Dec. 1-5), Multan (Dec. 9-13), and Karachi (Dec 17-21).
Turner and Ramiz in their joint meeting with Imran at his Zaman Park residence informed the former prime minister about the importance of England team’s tour to Pakistan and expressed their concerns over the security of the tourists that maybe compromised in case of political unrest in the country.
Imran, Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup-winning captain, during the meeting was told that the said series was crucial for cricket of both the countries and therefore it needed to be free from any possible security-related issue.
In response, Imran was very positive and assured Turner and Ramiz that his party workers would not interrupt the Rawalpindi Test, and emphasised that his political campaign would not be a security threat for the English team.
It is unconfirmed if Ramiz had gone to Zaman Park after getting clearance from Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is also PCB’s patron-in-chief, as Imran is a staunch political opponent of PM Shahbaz.
It may be mentioned here that Rawalpindi city is part of the Punjab government, where PTI is in power. Therefore, arranging and maintaining security in the city is the direct responsibility of the provincial government.
To gain assurances about the security required for the orderly conduct of the Test series, Ramiz and Christian still preferred to meet with the PTI chairman.