Pakistan players mistaken as asylum seekers [Source: AFP]Pakistan Cricket Board and the team found themselves in unfamiliar territory on Wednesday, September 9. A group of protesters gathered outside their team hotel, asking the visitors to leave after mistaking their identity.Pakistan are in the middle of a forgettable tour of England, having already lost the Test series against the home side. Interestingly, the Pakistan U19 team is on a parallel tour of their own, facing their English counterparts. PCB and players confronted by protesters in EnglandThe incident took place on Wednesday in Portsmouth, where the Pakistan U19 team was staying at a four-star Marriott hotel. According to The Guardian, strangely, a group of masked protesters assembled outside the team's hotel and asked the team to leave the country.Also Read: "Babar Azam's Weakness- Cricket"- Fans Troll Pakistan Captain For Another Poor OutingIt is understood that the masked people were anti-immigrant protesters who thought the team was a group of asylum seekers after they learnt that around 40 non-English-looking men had arrived there.Immigration has been a massive issue in Portsmouth in recent days, after around 150 migrants had recently arrived in the city in a boat. Hence, the protesters in the city have been on high alert, which led to this incident.ECB and government de-escalate situationSoon after the news about the protests reached the concerned authorities in the city, George Madgwick, who is a Reform councillor, called the hotel and asked for clarity. He further asked the hotel staff to mediate and calm things down between the team and protesters and called it a massively unfortunate incident.Madgiwck later also met the Pakistan U19 coach and explained the situation to him and revealed that the coach was understanding and did not make a fuss out of it. Furthermore, the England and Wales Cricket Board spoke to the PCB authorities and ensured security arrangements for the remainder of the tour."I also spoke to the coach of the team, who was very understanding. I went out to the protesters and told them, ‘You’ve got it wrong, guys, it’s a cricket club.’ They left within a couple of minutes. It was a massively unfortunate incident," said George Madgwick."From the perspective of the people of Portsmouth who are already on high alert, this was a coach from the same company which was turning up with about 40 foreign men," he added.Pakistan U19 eye revenge for senior team's annihilationPakistan's men's senior team, led by Babar Azam, is being blown apart by Joe Root's men. Having already lost the first two Tests, Pakistan were again bowled out for 133 on Day 1 in Birmingham despite making four significant changes to their playing XI from the Lord's Test. Nonetheless, the U19 boys have shown a lot of promise in their parallel tour of England so far. In the only youth Test, Pakistan fell short by 10 runs while trying to chase 262 in the fourth innings. They backed up a good red-ball performance with a massive 177-run win in the first Youth ODI before the incident with the protesters later on the day.Up next, they will face England U19 in three more Youth ODIs and try to win the series and avenge the loss of the seniors.Also Read: Imran Tahir Bags CPL Fifer Aged 47; Surpasses Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan
