New Zealand’s experienced batter Martin Guptill had no problems with the security after he touched down in Pakistan earlier this week for the T20I series. The 34-year-old Guptill said in a virtual presser on Monday (September 13) that security personnel were around them every time and the team felt extremely safe.
“We were reasonably aware of it, we were straight off the plane into an armoured van on the tarmac,” he said. “We had a dozen or so police cars behind us, and armed soldiers around us at all times, and a lot of cars in the motorcade. We felt as though we were extremely safe.”
New Zealand Cricket (NZC)’s senior security consultant Reg Dickason was in Pakistan for two weeks and gave go-ahead to this tour. Guptill had said that Dickason’s approval was enough for reassurances of this tour. “He’s been in the game a very long time and he’s got a great eye for these things. If he says it’s safe and fine to tour, then that gives us the reassurance that we need,” Guptill said. Guptill also said that he was excited to be in Pakistan and play cricket.
“It’s pretty cool for Pakistan. They’ve been wanting cricket back here for a long time now, and there’s been the Pakistan Super League and a few teams tour here, and from everything that we’ve heard, everything has run very smoothly and security has been absolutely fantastic. “There is a little bit of nerves but they’re there to protect us. We’ve got full faith in the security and I felt extremely safe coming over. It’s a different experience but I’m excited to be here and play some cricket.”
