An Embarrassing Welcome: Pakistan U-19 cricketers mistaken for asylum seekers in England

New Delhi: In an embarrassing moment for Pakistan, its Under-19 cricket team was reportedly mistaken for a group of asylum seekers by anti-immigration protesters outside a hotel in Portsmouth.

  

Around 40–50 protesters gathered after reportedly receiving information about a coach carrying a group of asylum seekers. They apparently had no idea that the people they had come to protest against were actually Pakistan’s young cricketers visiting England for a cricket tour.

  

The confusion was cleared only after a Reform UK councillor spoke to the hotel manager and the team’s coach, who showed proof that they were the Pakistan U-19 team. The protesters then dispersed. Pakistan’s young cricketers had gone to England to play cricket, but for a brief and rather awkward moment, they were apparently mistaken for asylum seekers.