Windies to tour Pakistan for three T20Is

 

Windies are confirmed to play a three-match T20I series in Lahore in March next year, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Najam Sethi announced at a press conference on Saturday (November 11).

All three matches - on March 29, 31 and April 1 - will be played in Lahore.

The tour - which was supposed to happen in November this year - had to be rescheduled to next year due to 'unforeseen circumstances'. "There were talks to play the series in November, but due to unforeseen weather, we didn't take the risk," Sethi said in Lahore.

Sethi announced that both cricket boards - PCB and CWI - have mutually agreed upon playing T20Is against each other for the next five years in Pakistan and the USA. The reciprocal series in USA in 2018 will be a tri-series, with the third participant yet to be finalised.

"Cricket West Indies (CWI) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have signed an agreement to play a series of T20Is, each year for the next five years in Pakistan and in the United States, subject to availability of dates. WICB will send its full-strength national team in 2018 and will play three T20Is [on] March 29, 31 and April 1.

"So I am hopeful that this ends the whole speculation around cricket in Pakistan. This is not a one-off series, we have tied up with the Windies for a period of five years. These bilateral [series] will be a part of the FTP, since we've made this agreement involving the ICC," he added.

After numerous deliberations with the International Cricket Council (ICC), PCB have successfully managed to organize two international events in the last couple of months which saw World XI and Sri Lanka touring Lahore for the T20I games. On both occasions, PCB offered watertight security in and around the stadium - in Lahore - which reassured fans all around the world. The PSL final last year proved to be a pivotal element in helping Pakistan host international games after all the uncertainty that engulfed post the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus outside the Gaddafi stadium in 2009