West Indies women to tour Pakistan for ODIs as PCB hopes to rekindle international cricket at home

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced that the West Indies women’s team would visit the country for three ODIs in Karachi next month, a huge boost for the Asian nation after the pullouts by New Zealand and England. The three ODIs will be played on 8, 11 and 14 November before the two sides travel to Zimbabwe for the World Cup qualifiers that begin on 21 November. “We are delighted to announce the West Indies women’s tour to Pakistan in November. This will be a great series for the promotion, publicity and growth of women’s cricket in Pakistan, besides also providing both sides excellent opportunity to prepare for the World Cup qualifier,” PCB chairman Ramiz Raja said.

He added, “West Indies women’s tour will be followed by their men’s side who will visit Pakistan for three ODIs and three T20Is in December. So, the Pakistan cricket fans can brace for some exciting and entertaining cricket in women’s and men’s cricket later this year.” In recent weeks ahead of the T20 World Cup, New Zealand and England have pulled out of their tour of Pakistan amid security concerns. Pakistan has been largely avoided by most top Test-playing nations due to security concerns after a terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in 2009.