Pakistan set to tour Ireland for three T20Is in May as two teams set to meet for first time since 2018

Pakistan will head to Ireland in May as the two teams lock horns in a three-match T20I series ahead of the highly-anticipated T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA in June.

This will be the first meeting between these two sides since 2018. Six years ago, Sarfaraz Khan-led Pakistan defeated Ireland by five wickets at The Village, Malahide, Dublin in what was the maiden Test appearance for the European nation. Pakistan were scheduled to play two T20Is in Dublin in July 2020 but they were postponed due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced that the Men in Green will be playing the three T20Is at Castle Avenue in Dublin and the dates are May 10, 12 and 14. With the addition of this series, Pakistan will now get 12 T20I fixtures heading into the T20 World Cup. They are scheduled to host New Zealand for a five-match T20I series next month before embarking on the Ireland tour. Right before the marquee event, the Men in Green will head to England to play four T20Is.

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Pakistan's most recent series was also against the Kiwis as they travelled to New Zealand to play five T20Is in January. The hosts won the first four games before the visitors emerged victorious in the inconsequential final T20I.

Ireland, on the other hand, recently played a multi-format series against Afghanistan in the UAE. After winning their first-ever Test match, the Irish side went down in both the ODI as well as the T20I series.

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Pakistan were also scheduled to play another three T20Is against the Netherlands in May. However, that series was indefinitely postponed in November 2023 at the PCB's request. Netherlands' cricket board Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Board's high-performance manager Roland Lefebvre had, at the time, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that the tour had been put off because the PCB had cited scheduling clashes and concerns about player workload. The PCB had stated that they were looking to find another window to reschedule the series.

Pakistan and Ireland are placed in the same group (Group A) in the T20 World Cup alongside India, Canada, and the USA.