Cricket Ireland has officially confirmed a first men’s tour of Pakistan in August and September next year. The series, which will see Ireland and Pakistan play three T20Is and three ODIs, was a part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), scheduled for September 2025.
The release makes no detailed mention of dates and venues, or any other specifics concerning the schedule of the tour. It follows in the wake of Ireland Women touring Pakistan, who also played three ODIs and three T20Is, in November 2022.
The decision was finalised after PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi met Cricket Ireland chair Brain MacNeice. The PCB initially put out a statement appearing to confirm Ireland would also play a Test series in Pakistan, one that was not part of the FTP.
“Chairman Cricket Ireland said that the Irish team would visit Pakistan next year in August-September for a Test series and would also review the possibility of a women’s team tour to Pakistan soon,” the PCB statement said.
When ESPNcricinfo contacted the PCB for further details, the PCB denied that any such Test series had officially been in agreement, despite the board’s own statement ostensibly confirming it. A Cricket Ireland spokesperson said that details of the tour’s fixture list would be discussed by the two boards in future.
Hours after the PCB release, Cricket Ireland put out an official statement on their own website relating to Naqvi’s meeting with MacNeice. In “wide ranging discussions”, it merely confirmed that the two boards “were able to agree a men’s tour next year – this will be yet another historic first, coming after the tour to Pakistan by our senior women in 2022.”
The Pakistan men’s side is currently in Ireland taking part in a three-match T20I series. The sides split the first two games 1-1, with the series decider on Tuesday.
For a little over half the game, Ireland held on to the hope of sealing a famous series win. But a crushing onslaught from Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman, who combined for a 140-run stand off 78 balls for the third wicket, helped Pakistan win the second T20I in Dublin by seven wickets and 19 balls to spare. Fakhar smashed 78 off 40, while Rizwan was unbeaten on 75 off 46, as Azam Khan ended the match with a flurry for sixes to level the series 1-1.
Zaman joined Rizwan after the openers fell cheaply. SaimAyub’s dry run continued, caught by a diving Curtis Campher third ball, while Babar nicked a harmless medium-pace delivery from Graham Hume in the following over to leave Pakistan 13 for 2 in a chase of 194.
But Rizwan, who has been demoted in Ayub’sfavour of late, demonstrated his value in the powerplay by combining dazzling slog sweeps with judicious placement. He bore the bulk of the run-scoring load until Zaman bedded in. Zaman dispatched Craig Young over square leg in the fifth over, and aside from a pair of costly drops, Pakistan were not troubled.
There was a brief slowdown after the seventh over, but in the absence of Ireland’s ability to break through, Pakistan’s position grew stronger. It was the 13th over when the game moved irrevocably out of Ireland’s hands, as Pakistan plundered 21 off Young, plunging the asking rate from 10 to 8.4. There was even time, after Zaman holed out, for a whirlwind Azam cameo of 30 off 10 balls.
The greater concern, after Pakistan failed to defend 183 in the first T20I, was another inconsistent bowling performance. Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Amir were expensive and Pakistan were unable to contain Ireland in the Powerplay. Lorcan Tucker’s 34-ball 51 strung the first half of Ireland’s innings together, while Campher punished Shaheen through the middle overs once more. Each of the hosts’ top seven managed double figures, and all but two achieved strike rates of 150 or more, resulting in a first-innings score Pakistan’s bowlers will feel they are too good to have permitted on this surface.
