Pakistan's T20I tour of Ireland postponed due to coronavirus

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that it has decided to postpone the national side's tour of Ireland in July this year following the Irish government's decision to allow matches behind closed-door only after August 10 due to coronavirus pandemic.

Pakistan were slated to play two Twenty20I matches against Ireland in Dublin on July 12 and July 14, respectively.

Howeve, the PCB and its Ireland counterpart have mutually agreed to postpone the series indefinitely amid COVID-19 crises.

Reflecting on the same, PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said that the board is looking forward to return to the venue where Pakistan featured against Ireland in the latter's inaugral Test once the situation returns to normal.

“It is sad that due the current Covid-19 pandemic, we have to postpone our tour to Ireland. We were looking forward to returning to the venue, where we featured against Ireland in their inaugural Test in 2018, and country where our players have always been supported and admired by the friendly and knowledgeable fans.The PCB stands firmly with CI in these difficult times and we look forward to revisiting Ireland as soon as normal services resume," the PCB official website quoted Wasim as saying.

Cricket Ireland Chief Executive Warren Deutrom, on the other hand, stressed that it had become impossible to go ahead with the Pakistan series as per schedule following the announcement of the Irish government on lifting of restrictions on May 1.

“With the Irish Government announcement on 1 May regarding the gradual process of lifting restrictions here in Ireland, it unfortunately became impossible to host the Pakistan T20Is in Dublin on the scheduled dates.We subsequently discussed scenarios around delaying the fixtures – or even playing them elsewhere - but with numerous complications around Government roadmap timelines, bio-security, quarantining, and scheduling harmony, it just hasn’t been possible to find a way to get the matches played,” he said. 

Notable, the PCB could also not hold the Ireland series after August 10 as the date coincides with Pakistan’s tour to England featuring three Tests and as many T20Is.