Due to the COVID-19 enforced rescheduling of the ODI series against Australia, West Indies have also had to rejig their schedule for the home series against Pakistan, with the first of the five T20Is cancelled now and the opening game slotted for July 28 instead of July 27.
The T20I series will now only include four T20Is, each of which will be played on the dates they were originally meant to be. However, the programme for the two-match Test series that follows remains unchanged.
“Yes, we have cancelled the first T20I and play the rest of the tour as originally planned. We have to prioritize the ODI Super League and the World Test Championship really. It was the most logical choice,”
a Cricket West Indies official was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
The start of the Pakistan series became uncertain once it was confirmed that the ODI series against Australia will resume with a tweaked schedule. The CWI had announced the second one-dayer in Barbados will be played on July 24, followed by the third on July 26. That, however, meant that the home team had only just over a day’s turnaround from the rescheduled Australia series to the Pakistan one.
With that in mind, the CWI is believed to have discussed the issue with their Pakistan counterparts and come to a conclusion that has seen the first T20I getting cancelled. The opening game of what is now a four-match series will be played on July 28 in Barbados, followed by matches in Guyana on July 31, August 1 and 3, respectively.
The Test series will be played entirely in Jamaica, with the first match starting August 12 and the second on August 20.
The T20Is are a vital part of both the countries’ T20 World Cup 2021 preparations, while the Test series counts towards their campaign in the next cycle of the World Test Championship.
