LAHORE – Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed its men’s national cricketteam’s tour to the West Indies, which will take place from 21 July to 24August and comprise five T20 Internationals and two Tests.
The tour, which will take place following the conclusion of the ODI andT20I series in England, will commence with back-to-back T20Is in Barbadoson 27 and 28 July, before action will move to Guyana for the 31 July and 1August back-to-back T20Is, and series finale on 3 August.
After a two-day practice match on 6-7 August in Guyana, the side will moveto Jamaica where the two Tests will be held at Sabina Park from 12-16August and 20-24 August.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan: “The tour to the West Indies is always avalued and prized tour for the Pakistan cricket teams. The Caribbeancricket history, backed up by the excellent playing facilities, supportingcrowds and great ambiance, encourages and motivates the players to producetheir very best.
“In consultation with the Cricket West Indies and keeping an eye on thisyear’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, we have agreed to replace one Test matchwith two additional T20Is. This is aimed at providing further T20 contentfor both teams, as we continue to prepare and build-up to the global ICCevent.
“The series in the West Indies is part of a gruelling but exciting andentertaining season of cricket for Pakistan. In addition to playingEngland, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the T20 World Cup and the away series,we will be hosting New Zealand, England, West Indies and Australia in thenext eight months. This makes every series important and critical for ourside as we aspire to feature in the top three across all formats by 2023.”
On their last tour to the Caribbean in 2017, Pakistan won their maiden Testseries 2-1. This provided a perfect farewell to Misbah-ul-Haq and YounisKhan, who played 276 and 408 international matches, respectively, duringtheir illustrious careers.
Both will return to the Caribbean in coaching roles with Misbah as headcoach and Younis as batting coach.
Overall, this will be ninth Test series between the two sides in theCaribbean since 1957-58 with the sixth-ranked home side leading thefifth-ranked visitors by 4-1.
At Sabina Park alone, both the sides are tied at 2-all with the West Indieswinning the 1957- 58 and 1976-77 Tests by an innings and 174 runs and 140runs, respectively. However, Pakistan won the last two Tests in 2004-05 and2016-17 by 136 runs and seven wickets, respectively.
On a head-to-head in T20Is series in the West Indies, Pakistan lead the T20world champions by 2-1. West Indies won the one-off match at the DarenSammy National Cricket Stadium in 2010-11, before Pakistan won the 2013-14and 2016-17 by 2-0 and 3-1 respectively.