Pakistan's tour of Netherlands in 2024 postponed indefinitely at PCB's request

Pakistan's tour of the Netherlands in 2024 has been postponed indefinitely at the PCB's request.

Pakistan were scheduled to play three T20Is against Netherlands in early May 2024 as part of a tour of Europe that also included three T20Is against Ireland, and four against England. All those games were scheduled in the build-up to the T20 World Cup which starts in June 2024, to be held in the West Indies and USA.

Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Board (KNCB)'s high-performance manager Roland Lefebvre confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the tour had been put off, with the PCB citing scheduling clashes, and concerns about player workload.

"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 postponement will come as a blow for Netherlands, who were scheduled to get three T20Is against a Full-Member side in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup, for which they have already qualified. That also means Netherlands and Pakistan are yet to face each other in a bilateral T20I fixture, with their only two meetings in the format having come at the T20 World Cup.

In fact, there was significant on-field bonhomie between the Pakistan and Netherlands players after their fates were tied together at last year's T20 World Cup, with each side doing the other a favour. Netherlands beat South Africa to keep Pakistan alive in a tournament that saw them go on to reach the final, while Pakistan defeated Bangladesh in the following game to ensure direct qualification to the 2024 T20 World Cup for Netherlands.

Last year, Netherlands had hosted Pakistan for three ODIs as part of the Super League. Pakistan went on to win the series 3-0, but two of those matches were decided by margins of only 16 runs and nine runs.

The PCB acknowledged to ESPNcricinfo that next year's series had been postponed at their request, and said they were actively working on finding an alternate window.