LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced the schedule of the upcoming series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and confirmed that a T20 match will be played in Lahore. The match in Lahore is scheduled for October 29. “The five-match ODI series between the two teams will be played in three cities -i.e. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah starting from October 13, 2017. Furthermore, the first two T20I matches will be played in Abu Dhabi followed by the third T20I to take place in Lahore in continuation with the return of international cricket following World XI tour to Pakistan,” said the PCB. The tournament, which includes two Test matches, will start with a Test on September 28 in the United Arab Emirates. The second match will be a pink ball day-and-night Test with the matches ending on October 10, confirmed the PCB. Last month, Sri Lanka’s cricket board approved a tour to Pakistan, eight years after a deadly militant attack on the team brought top international games there to a standstill. Leading cricket nations have shunned playing in Pakistan since the attack, in which gunmen ambushed the Sri Lankan team bus en route to the Lahore stadium, wounding at least seven players. Since 2009, the only international team to visit Pakistan is Zimbabwe, who played five limited-overs games in Lahore in 2015. Pakistan plays their “home” internationals in the United Arab Emirates. But there were hopeful signs when Pakistan successfully staged the final of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) — the rest of which was played in UAE — under heavy security in March. Addressing the Asian Cricket Council in Colombo last month, Sri Lanka Cricket chief Thilanga Sumathipala called for an end to Pakistan’s isolation and urged countries to play there. Published in Daily Times, September 10th 2017.