West Indies tour of Pakistan likely to be postponed from 2023 to 2024

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had unveiled the national cricket team's 12-month home and away schedules back in April. However, one of their home bilateral series against West Indies, scheduled for next year, could be postponed to 2024. 

As per the original schedule, the West Indies are supposed to tour Pakistan for a three-match T20I series in January 2023. Meanwhile, an ESPNcricinfo report states that both the PCB and CWI (Cricket West Indies) have mutually decided to reschedule the series to 2024, taking into account the franchise cricketing calendar where players of both Pakistan and the West Indies will be involved.

With the Big Bash League (BBL) and the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) taking place in that month, there have been two more additions to the franchise cricket calendar with the inception of the high-profile as well eagerly awaited tournaments like the International League T20 (ILT20) in the UAE and the SA20 in South Africa. 

It must be noted that West Indies have visited Pakistan twice in the last 10 months for a limited-overs bilateral series. After the three T20Is in December last year, the ODI series was postponed to June 2022 after there was a COVID-19 scare in the West Indies camp. 

Meanwhile, West Indies players have signed up to participate in the BBL and the lucrative SA20 and ILT20 leagues. Nonetheless, same is not the case with the Pakistani players who are only reported to play in the Big Bash League and the Bangladesh Premier League.

Pakistani players have not been selected for the South Africa T20 league since the IPL teams own all of the six franchises. As far as the ILT20 is concerned, even that tournament has IPL owners involved and therefore, the none of the players have been given an NOC to take part in the UAE-based competition.