Cricket South Africa (CSA), on Friday, decided to opt-out of the forthcoming series against Pakistan, citing player’s workload management issues.
The Proteas are currently in their last leg of England series. Shortly after, they are scheduled to host Australia for a three-match T20I and ODI series against Australia.
The Pakistan Cricket Board wanted to sneak in the short series against South Africa, before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. However, the board refused to allow its players to travel to Pakistan, citing the busy calendar.
Before the ongoing T20I series against England, they hosted the Three Lions for a four-match Test series and a subsequent three-match ODI series.
Their Pakistan tour was also marred by logistical challenges, which made CSA plan to send a security delegates team next month during the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
South Africa was slated to play Pakistan in three ODIs, ending on March 18. Furthermore, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) intended to make them stay back in Dubai and board them the flight to Pakistan for the T20I leg of the tour, in Rawalpindi.
With the IPL starting on March 28, the cricket board did not find it feasible for the players, looking at their hectic schedule.
The last time the South Africans toured Pakistan was back in 2007. The visitors clinched both the ODI as well as the Test series.
Also, the likes of Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, and Imran Tahir, were part of the World XI squad which visited Pakistan in 2017, to help the cricket-frenzied nation restore normalcy, by hosting teams for matches.
Slowly but steadily, many teams have toured the country to play cricket, with Bangladesh and Sri Lanka being the recent ones.
