Pakistan were originally scheduled to tour the Netherlands in July 2020 to play three ODI matches,[6] ahead of their tour of England.[7] It would have been the first bilateral series between the two sides.[8] Pakistan were also scheduled to play a two-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Ireland following this series.[9] However, on 22 April 2020, the Dutch government announced that it had banned all events in the country, both sports and cultural, until 1 September 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.[10][11][12]