[14] In August 2020, the South Africa women's team were denied a request to travel to England.

[16] A month later, Cricket South Africa sent a security delegation to Pakistan to perform a feasibility assessment for the tour.

[20] In December 2020, Pakistan's Shadab Khan suffered an injury ahead of the Test series against New Zealand.

[27] Before South Africa departed for the tour, Ottniel Baartman was ruled out of their Test squad, with Marco Jansen named as his replacement.

[28] On 24 January 2021, the PCB confirmed that seventeen players would be available for selection for the first Test match,[29] with Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam and Agha Salman staying with the squad for training sessions.