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KARACHI: Pakistan announced Tuesday the itinerary for their autumn series against Sri Lanka to be played in the neutral territory of the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistan have been forced to play on foreign soil since a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore two years ago shattered the global cricketing community's faith in the nation being able guarantee the safety of touring sides.
The series will also see the revival of Test cricket at the Sharjah stadium after 11 years after Pakistan and Australia last played Tests at the desert venue in 2002.
The PCB announcing the itinerary of the series said the matches would be played at Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as the venues were cost effective.
“We had a choice of neutral venues but we opted for UAE because it allows us to manage things smoothly,” chief operating officer, Subhan Ahmad said.
Pakistan, which has been playing its home matches in the UAE since 2008, offered to host Sri Lanka at home but the invitation was rejected after a military base in Karachi was attacked in May this year.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play three Tests - one each in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah - while three ODIs will go ahead in Dubai and one each in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi will stage the only Twenty20 match.
Programme: October 15 - Teams arrive in the UAE October 18-22 - First Test - Abu Dhabi October 26-30 - Second Test - Dubai November 3-7 - Third Test - Sharjah November 11 - First one-day international - Dubai November 14 - Second one-day international - Dubai November 18 - Third one-day international - Dubai November 20 - Fourth one-day international - Sharjah November 23 - Fifth one-day international - Abu Dhabi November 25 - Twenty20 match - Abu Dhabi
