Pakistan to host SL for Tests and T20Is, and ODI tri-series with England

Pakistan, in their upcoming home season, will host Sri Lanka for bilateral Test and T20I series and the two teams will also play a triangular ODI series - with England as the third team - over October and November.

The season will commence with a three-match T20I series in Rawalpindi, which will be the first time Pakistan will feature in the format since the 2026 T20 World Cup. The three T20Is will be played on October 9, 11, and 13 and the two teams will face off five days later in the opening match of the tri-nation series at the same venue.

The triangular series will be played on double round-robin basis with the top two teams playing the final in Lahore on October 31. England will take on Pakistan and Sri Lanka on October 20 and 22 in Rawalpindi after which the three teams will move to Lahore for the remaining four matches.

This is the second consecutive year that Pakistan will host an ODI triangular series after they hosted South Africa and New Zealand last year ahead of the Champions Trophy.

The first of the two Tests between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be played in Rawalpindi from November 9-13 and Lahore will host the second and last match from November 17-21. These two fixtures are part of the World Test Championship and the visitors are scheduled to prepare for the series with a three-day warm-up in Islamabad.

This will be Pakistan's second home series in the current WTC cycle. They hosted current title holders South Africa in October last year at the same venues and that series was drawn 1-1. Pakistan's last series in this cycle is a home assignment against New Zealand, which is slated for March next year. They sit eighth in the nine-team competition and are currently playing their third and final away series in England.

This will be Sri Lanka's second visit to Pakistan in a year. They played a bilateral ODI series, which Pakistan won 3-0, and were involved in a T20I triangular series - with Zimbabwe being the third side - in November 2025.

England's last outing in Pakistan was their Champions Trophy campaign in which they crashed out of the tournament in the group stages after defeats to Australia and Afghanistan in Lahore and against South Africa in Karachi.

The ODI tri-series is the first assignment of a busy 2026-27 winter for England. They will travel to Australia for three ODIs and five T20Is straight after, before a tour to South Africa in December-January which entails three Tests and three ODIs. After that, they will tour Bangladesh for two Tests in February, before returning to Australia for the 150th anniversary Test at the MCG in March.

Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is a cricket journalist based in Lahore

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Toss England won the toss and chose to field first against Pakistan

On a slightly overcast day at Headingley, returning England captain Joe Root called correctly and put Pakistan in to bat.

Root attributed the decision to overhead conditions and "a bit of top moisture" in the pitch that England hope to exploit. There are no surprises in the team, with the hosts lining up with four specialist seam bowlers in Ollie Robinson, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, and Josh Tongue. Dan Lawrence and Root himself provide part-time spin options.

Pakistan had stand-in captain Salman Agha at the toss after Babar Azam was ruled out with a finger injury picked up in the Caribbean and exacerbated when he was struck by Manny Lumsden at Beckenham.

He said Pakistan's plan was to bat first, and their team combination differs slightly from England's, and includes left-arm spinner Ali Usman.

Ubaid Shah, their fastest bowler, has not made the starting XI, with Mohammad Abbas accompanied by Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad. Shan Masood returns to the top order after shaking off a hand injury of his own, as does Saud Shakeel following fitness struggles.

Pakistan have not won a Test series in England since 1996, and lost 13 of their last 18 Tests. England come into this Test with struggles of their own, having won just two of their last ten Tests.

England: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Emilio Gay, 3 Jordan Cox, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Harry Brook, 6 Dan Lawrence, 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Ollie Robinson, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Josh Tongue.

Pakistan: 1 Azan Awais, 2 Imam-ul-Haq, 3 Shan Masood, 4 Abdullah Shafique, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Agha (capt), 8 Ali Usman, 9 Khurram Shahzad, 10 Mohammad Ali, 11 Mohammad Abbas.

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Danyal Rasool is Cricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000