IRE vs PAK: Mohammad Amir set to miss first T20I

The Men in Green had set off for Ireland on Tuesday, May 7. However, it was left-arm speedster, Mohammed Amir, who had to postpone his departure due to visa processing issues.

Amir, who had retired in December 2020, cited that he felt "mentally tortured". However, in an out-of-the-blue decision, he reversed his retirement in March this year to confirm his availability for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the West Indies, scheduled to take place in June. 

Although Amir will link up with the Pakistani group ahead of the first T20I, he will miss the first game on the basis of unpreparedness for the match. According to Geo News, Amir boarded the flight bound for Dublin at 3:30 am Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) on May 6 and will be absent for the inaugural T20I. He will be eligible to participate in the second and third T20Is, scheduled for May 12 and May 14, respectively.

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All three T20Is will be played at the same venue, the Clontarf Cricket Club in Dublin. 

Post the T20I series against Ireland, the Pakistan team will travel to England to play a set of four T20Is, with both the series poised to serve as much-needed preparatory measures in a tournament in which they've tasted success once, winning the title in 2009 against Sri Lanka at Lord's. In the most recent couple of editions, Pakistan managed to qualify for the knockout stages on both occasions, losing in the semi-final against Australia in 2021 while finishing runners-up to a five-wicket loss against England in 2022.

Pakistan's squad for Ireland and England T20Is: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Irfan Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi