Australia cricketer receives death threats in Pakistan, culprit linked to India
Australia (Photo by Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images)
The Australia team is currently in Pakistan for all-format series starting on March 4. The team landed in Rawalpindi on February 26 and isolated for a day on February 27. This is the first time an Australian team has arrived in the South Asian country after 1998. The team will play three Tests followed by as many ODIs and a sole T20I for a month.
Ahead of the series, Ashton Agar, who is part of the Australia squad, has reportedly received death threats on Instagram. However, he didn’t received the threat directly. Agar’s partner Madeleine received the message on Instagram. The contents of the messages are unverified as of now, but it as per messages that are circulating on social media, the user first asked Madeleine’ about her well being.
The user then went on to say that Ashton’s life is in danger, hailing the Taliban, which is currently ruling Afghanistan. This is not the first time a visiting team or a player was threatened in Pakistan. In September last year, New Zealand team had received threats from an unknown user which compelled them to pull out of the tour. The report added that the threat came from a fake account and potentially from India.
“The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal that a message was sent to Agar’s partner, Madeleine, on social media, which was immediately reported to CA and the PCB,” wrote Sydney Morning Herald in its report.
“A team spokesperson confirmed Agar was the subject of the death threat, but team security has investigated and do not believe it is a credible threat. There is a suggestion it is from a fake Instagram account, potentially from India,” the report adds.
