Rawalpindi, Multan, Karachi to host Test matches for England's historic Pak tour

The Pakistan Cricket Board PCB on Monday announced that Rawalpindi Multan and Karachi will be the venues when England tour Pakistan for three Tests in DecemberThe three Tests will be played in Englands second half of the trip to the country and will also be their first Test tour of Pakistan since 2005 Before the Test tour England will play seven T20Is in Karachi and Lahore from September 20 to October 2Ben Stokes side will open the Test tour of Pakistan with the series opener in Rawalpindi from December 15 Both sides will then move to Multan for the second Test from December 913 before travelling to Karachi for the third and final Test from December 1721The three Tests will count towards the ICC World Test Championship 202123 cycle England ranked fourth in Test rankings are presently sitting in seventh position on the Test championship table while sixthranked Pakistan are at fifth placeAlso Read Good to see India persist with Prasidh Krishna ExIndia cricketer Saba KarimWe are pleased that Pakistan and England Test rivalry which has historically produced close and tight matches will return to our backyards in December Both the sides have evolved since they last played in Pakistan in 2005 and have recently been playing entertaining and exciting cricketI remain confident this series will live up to the expectations of the global cricket fans who want to watch and enjoy competitive and thrilling matches Pakistan cricket fans have waited for almost 17 years to see elite England players in actionAnd although they have enjoyed watching a number of them live in the recent editions of the HBL Pakistan Super League nation versus nation Test cricket is the pinnacle where international stars and heroes are born said Zakir Khan PCB Director International Cricket in an official statementThe Test tour will be the first time England will play a match in the longest format of the game in Rawalpindi which has previously staged 12 matches with the home side winning five and losing three When England last toured Pakistan in 2005 they lost the Multan Test by 22 runs The venue has staged five Tests with Pakistan winning three and losing onePlay Quiz Manchester United vs Liverpool QuizKarachis National Stadium was considered Pakistans happy hunting ground until Nasser Hussains side in 2000 ended Pakistans 34Test unbeaten record winning the third Test in near darkness by six wickets Pakistans only other loss in 44 matches in Karachi was against South Africa who won the 2007 Test by 160 runs With 23 Test wins the National Stadium remains Pakistans most favourite Test venueThe return of our mens Test team to Pakistan for the first time since 2005 will be an historic occasion The opportunity to play Test cricket in front of passionate cricketlovers in Pakistan after such a long time is something to be cherishedWe have been working closely with the PCB over recent months and I am grateful to them for everything they have done and continue to do to make our Test and T20 tours a mouthwatering prospect for all involved said Clare Connor ECB Interim Chief Executive OfficerSchedule of TestsDecember 15 1st Test RawalpindiDecember 913 2nd Test MultanDecember 1721 3rd Test KarachiSchedule of T20I seriesSeptember 20 1st T20I KarachiSeptember 22 2nd T20I KarachiSeptember 23 3rd T20I KarachiSeptember 25 4th T20I KarachiSeptember 28 5th T20I LahoreSeptember 30 6th T20I LahoreOctober 2 7th T20I LahoreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever