Reigning World T20 champions West Indies will visit Pakistan next year to play a three-match T20I series, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi announced at a press conference on Saturday (November 11). All the three games will be played at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium.
Carlos Brathwaite & Co. were initially supposed to tour Pakistan in November this year, but Sethi insisted the tour was rescheduled to next year due to ‘unforeseen weather’.
“There were talks to play the series in November, but due to unforeseen weather, we didn’t take the risk,” Sethi told journalists in Lahore.
The PCB chairman further revealed that PCB and their West Indies counterpart had signed an agreement to play one T20I series each year for the next five years in Pakistan and the United States. Sethi also confirmed the date of the next year’s three-match series.
“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.
West Indies’ visit next year will be another big step for Pakistan towards bringing back international cricket in the country. Before the ongoing year, no foreign team except for Zimbabwe in 2015 had visited Pakistan since 2009 after militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore. However, the situation is now changing as the PCB and ICC have joined hands to resume international cricket in the country.
At the start of this year, the final of the Pakistan Super League was held in Lahore before a World XI side visited the country for a three-match series. Recently, Sri Lanka had also visited Pakistan for one T20I.
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