Pakistan are set to host Bangladesh for a five-T20I series starting later in May, shortly after the conclusion of the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL). The series will see international cricket returning to Faisalabad for the first time since April 2008. The Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, will stage the first and second T20I games of the series on May 25 and 27. This will also be the first time that a 20-over game will be played at the venue.
Incidentally, it was also a Bangladesh vs Pakistan ODI that was played in Faisalabad before international cricket was suspended in the country in 2009. The stadium has previously hosted 24 Test matches and 16 One-dayers, but never a T20I. The venue’s inclusion adds Faisalabad as the newest entrant to the list of currently active international venues in Pakistan, which includes Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi, and Multan.
Following the games in Faisalabad, the next three matches of the series will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on May 30, June 1, and June 3. These will be the first bilateral games played in Lahore since its recent renovations and upgrade. The series will see games beginning at 8pm PKT, in order to avoid matches being played in high temperatures during the daytime.
Originally, the series was planned as a combination of T20Is and ODIs, making up six games in total, including three T20Is and as many ODIs. However, both cricket boards, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), collectively agreed to swap the onw-day games with two extra T20I games in a bid to better prepare for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in Sri Lanka and India in February and March next year.
The Bangladesh team are scheduled to land in Pakistan on May 21. A reciprocal tour is planned for July, where Pakistan are tentatively expected to play a four-T20I series in Bangladesh. The final schedule for that series will be confirmed in due time.
The last time both countries played a bilateral T20I series was back in November 2021, right after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup. However, they met three times after that in a tri-series as well as in two T20 World Cups in 2022 and 2024.
Bangladesh just finished their two-Test match series against Zimbabwe, where they tied the series following a win in the second Test. Pakistan, on the other hand, are enjoying their yearly hiatus from international cricket due to the PSL. However, once they return, they have plenty of questions waiting unanswered for them. They are currently on a two-series losing streak, and will look to get rid of the kinks in their armour before they fly to the T20 World Cup venue next year.
Pakistan vs Bangladesh T20I series schedule:
25 May – First T20I at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (8pm local time)
27 May – Second T20I at Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad (8pm local time)
30 May – Third T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (8pm local time)
1 June – Fourth T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (8pm local time)
3 June – Fifth T20I at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore (8pm local time)
