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At the PCB’s request, Pakistan’s 2024 visit of the
Netherlands has been postponed indefinitely.
As part of a tour of Europe that also included three
Twenty20 Internationals against Ireland and four against England, Pakistan was
slated to play three Twenty20 Internationals against the Netherlands in early
May 2024. All of those matches were planned as a lead-up to the Twenty20 World
Cup, which will take place in the USA and the West Indies beginning in June
2024.
High-performance manager Roland Lefebvre of the
Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Board (KNCB) confirmed the postponement of the
tour, citing conflicts in schedule and player workload concerns.
“The KNCB understands the predicament the PCB are
in, given the busy playing schedules and at the same time keeping the
well-being of players in mind,” Lefebvre said. “We value the good
relationship we have with the PCB, and look forward to rescheduling this series
to a later date.”
The Netherlands, who have already qualified for the
T20 World Cup, were set to play three Twenty20 Internationals against a
Full-Member side. The postponement will be devastating to them. This implies
that the Netherlands and Pakistan have not yet played one another in a
bilateral Twenty20 International match; their two previous encounters with the
format occurred at the T20 World Cup.
When their fates were sealed in the T20 World Cup last
year, the players from Pakistan and the Netherlands actually got along rather
well on the pitch, even going so far as to help each other out. In a
competition that saw them go to the final, Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in the
next match to guarantee Netherlands’ straight qualifying to the 2024 T20 World
Cup, while Netherlands defeated South Africa to keep Pakistan alive.
As part of the Super League, the Netherlands hosted
three ODIs against Pakistan last year. Although Pakistan went on to win the
series 3-0, just 16 and 9 runs separated the winners in two of the games.