Follow UsThe Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was not sure they would be playing the Asia Cup any time soon, especially after the heightened tensions between their country and neighbour, India.
The tensions further spread to Bangladesh as well, with India-Bangladesh having tensions due to religious and border-related comments made by certain influential people on both sides.
With India deciding to postpone their tour of Bangladesh, it almost became certain that there would be no Asia Cup. However, all of a sudden, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), led by Pakistan Cricket Board chair Mohsin Naqvi, announced the Asia Cup to be played in September.
This has now led to the PCB making changes in their home season and, according to ESPNcricinfo, the Ireland tour of Pakistan, initially part of Pakistan’s home season, has now been moved to 2027. The series was supposed to take place in the August-September window, which will now be packed from September 9 to 28 due to the Asia Cup.
Pakistan’s current commitments before the Asia Cup involve their tour of the West Indies, which is already underway and will get over on August 12. From August 29 onwards, they will be playing a Tri-Series involving Afghanistan and the UAE. That will last till September 7, and the Asia Cup will start immediately afterwards. Thus, the only window Pakistan have available is from August 13 to August 28.
Realistically, hosting three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs in a 15-day window is not practically unfeasible, but realistically looks a bit toll-taking.
“While it was initially expected to be moved further out in the season, ESPNcricinfo has learned it will instead be removed from this home season altogether, and moved to the next one, with both boards looking at alternate dates in 2027,” the website wrote in a report.
The series, which would have been Ireland's men's first visit to Pakistan, was initially announced in May 2024. When the PCB released its official season schedule, the series against Ireland was slotted for September-October. At the time of writing, that remains the official schedule for the series on the PCB website.
"We wanted to balance content and planning better across the two seasons. It made more sense for us both to spread the fixtures further out as we already have substantial content leading into the Asia Cup and then the World Cup,” the website further quoted an official from PCB’s international cricket department.
With South Africa touring Pakistan for two Tests early in October, Pakistan's schedule till that month is packed. Thus, an alternate date for the proposed tour of Ireland will be mutually discussed by the two boards.