The PCB’s chief executive has resigned, two weeks after New Zealand and England abandoned tours in the country over security concerns.

The PCB gave no reason for Wasim Khan’s resignation, but said it would meet later on Wednesday to “consider the matter”.

New Zealand Cricket called off its first tour of Pakistan in 18 years just as the first ODI was due to start in Rawalpindi earlier this month. Its decision was swiftly followed by England’s cancellation of a planned tour next month.

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Khan, who is British with Pakistani heritage, had made huge efforts to revive international cricket after a 2009 terror attack on the Sri Lanka team sent Pakistan into isolation for years.

Hired on a three-year contract in 2019, he had organised Pakistan’s tours of England and then New Zealand amid severe Covid-19 restrictions last year.

Khan – the first British Muslim to play county cricket in England – had reported run-ins with former PCB chairman Ehsan Mani, who he accused of stopping him from working freely.

Security in the country has improved dramatically over the past few years but militant groups still operate along the border with Afghanistan.

Pakistan have only hosted South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe since the 2009 attacks.

© Agence France-Presse