The PCB -Pakistan Cricket Board and CI-Cricket Ireland have reached the decision to suspend the scheduled Pakistan tour of Ireland. Its interesting that a day before PCB had announced 2020-21 tour schedule which included the Ireland tour series.
This suspension was also predicted by Allsportsk in the article published today which quoted: “…the experts at Allsportspk have deduced that the matches and cups planned between July- Sept 2020, are very less probable to take place. It is mainly due the fact that most of the planned fixtures in this time period, are scheduled to take place in countries where the corona virus is widespread.”
It was originally planned that the two teams shall meat in Dublin for a T20 series, in the month of July on the 12th and the 14th. However, the plan had to be called off after the Irish government announced that no behind-the-door matches could be played before the 10th of August.
In addition to this, the Green Shirts were to fly to England after this series and it can be expected that this tour might also be postponed due to the same reason.
In regard to this, PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan has said the PCB has revered the decision of the CI during these circumstances. He added, “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.” He also mentioned, “As we have all reiterated, the safety and security of players, officials, and fans
comes first,”
On the other side, CI Chief Executive Warren Deutrom said, “numerous complications around government roadmap timelines, bio-security, quarantining, and scheduling harmony, it just has not been possible to find a way to get the matches played”.
He also said, “We deeply regret this, as the cricketing bonds between Ireland and Pakistan are strong, and we were very excited to host the world’s top T20 side.” “We look forward to a time when we can once again meet on the pitch and wish our Pakistan Cricket Board colleagues good health during these challenging times,” Deutrom added.
