Sports | By Web Desk
LAHORE — Pakistan will host England and Sri Lanka in an ODI tri-nation series from October 18 to 31, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Wednesday, adding a high-profile white-ball tournament to a home schedule that will also feature Sri Lanka in three T20 internationals and two World Test Championship matches.
The tri-series will feature six league matches followed by a final, with Rawalpindi and Lahore sharing hosting duties. Pakistan will open the tournament against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on October 18, before facing England at the same venue on October 20. Sri Lanka and England meet on October 22.
The competition then moves to Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, where Pakistan face England on October 25 and Sri Lanka on October 27. England and Sri Lanka complete the league stage on October 29, with the top two teams contesting the final on October 31.
Sri Lanka Tour Extends Across All Three Formats
Sri Lanka’s visit will be significantly larger than the tri-series alone.
The tour begins with a three-match T20I series in Rawalpindi on October 9, 11 and 13, giving Pakistan and Sri Lanka a short-format contest before England arrives for the ODI tournament.
After the tri-series, Sri Lanka will play a three-day warm-up match in Islamabad from November 4-6 before switching to Test cricket.
The first Test will take place in Rawalpindi from November 9-13, followed by the second at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from November 17-21. The two Tests form part of the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
England Returns to Pakistan for a Different Challenge
England’s inclusion adds particular weight to the ODI tournament.
Pakistan are currently playing a three-Test series in England, which began at Headingley on August 19. England will therefore move from hosting Pakistan in Test cricket to visiting Pakistan for a white-ball competition only two months later.
The tri-series also gives Pakistan another opportunity to establish multi-team ODI tournaments as a regular feature of its home calendar.
Pakistan hosted New Zealand and South Africa in an ODI tri-series in 2025 ahead of the Champions Trophy. The October tournament will make it the second successive year Pakistan has staged an ODI tri-nation event.
The Changer Angle: Pakistan Is Rebuilding More Than a Bilateral Home Calendar
The bigger story is not simply that England and Sri Lanka are coming to Pakistan.
For years after international cricket returned to the country, Pakistan’s home schedule was largely measured by individual bilateral tours. The PCB is now attempting something broader: positioning Pakistan again as a venue capable of staging multi-team international tournaments alongside full bilateral series.
The October-November window illustrates that shift particularly well.
Within roughly six weeks, Pakistan will host T20Is, a seven-match ODI tri-series and World Test Championship cricket, involving two major visiting teams and two leading venues.
For Pakistan cricket, that makes the schedule valuable beyond the results themselves.
It is another step toward making large, multi-format international windows in Pakistan routine rather than exceptional.