Pakistan's National T20 cup likely to be postponed again

The Independence Cup was probably the most important series for Pakistan this year, of course after the Champions Trophy. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) with utmost support from the International Cricket Council (ICC) slated the tour in mid-September. Which meant they had to push their domestic T20 tournament, the National T20 Cup back in the schedule, they didn’t hesitate a tad bit since the World XI tour marked the return of International cricket to the country.

But as it turns out the Independence Cup was not the only International tour that hampered the domestic T20 tournament, the PCB after successfully hosting World XI tour which Pakistan won 2-1, has been reaching out to other member boards for help and Cricket West Indies has agreed to send their team to the country for 3 Twenty20 Internationals later this year in November.

Original schedule

Thus, the National T20 Cup will have to be postponed yet again. As per the initial schedule, it was to be played in two legs, first starting on August 25 to 31 in Multan, and the second leg from September 4 to 10 in Faisalabad.

The PCB had also issued a limited No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the players who had travelled overseas to ply their trade in the Caribbean Premier League and the English County circuit be it the County Championship or the NatWest T20 Blast. Once they decided to postpone the tournament, the NOCs were extended and the likes of Shadab Khan were allowed to be with his team till the semi-final of the CPL while Mohammed Amir was with Essex until their last game in the tournament.

Cricket West Indies (CWI) President Dave Cameron visited Pakistan during the Independence Cup and after being satisfied with the security and other arrangements made by the hosts promoted that he was willing to send the Windies team to Pakistan for a bilateral T20I series in November.

Ahead of this tour, Pakistan will be hosting Sri Lanka for two Tests, 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is in the UAE from September 28 to October 29, while the PCB is pressing hard to ensure the last T20I is held at home.