Pakistan will host a Test match at home for the first time in over ten years, starting with the Rawalpindi Test against Sri Lanka on December 11. Sri Lanka incidentally is the last visiting team to play a Test in the country. Here's a look back at the teams and composite teams from various countries who have played short series in Pakistan since 2009, when a terror attack on the Sri Lankan team bus forced Pakistan to host teams in other countries, particularly UAE.
March 3, 2009
Pakistani policemen stand in front of a bullet–ridden bus which was carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team, parked outside the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 3, 2009.
The Sri Lankan team bus and a mini-van carrying match officials are attacked by militants near the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore ahead of the third day of a Test match. Six Sri Lankan players are injured; a reserve umpire suffers serious injuries. Six security men and two civilians are killed in the firing. The Test match and the tour is cancelled.
April 2009
England's James Anderson bowls the first ball of the second test cricket match to Pakistan's Mohammad Hafeez at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi January 25, 2012.
With teams refusing to tour the country over security fears, Pakistan is forced to host its ‘home’ matches in neutral venues, predominantly in the UAE (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah). England hosts two Tests in 2010 between Pakistan and Australia. 15114208
April 2009
Pakistan is dropped as a co-host of the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent. Its 16 matches are shared between the other co-hosts - India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
February 2013
Representational image
An Afghanistan XI arrives in Pakistan to play three unofficial games against a Pakistan A side, including two one-dayers and a T20, in Lahore, Multan and Hyderabad. The hosts win all three games.
December 2014
Bangalore: 13/03/2011. Kenya Players celebrate Australia's Michael Clarke's dismissal during the ICC Cricket World cup at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on March 13, 2011.
Kenya tours the country for five limited-overs matches against Pakistan A, all in Lahore. The hosts win all five games.
May 2015
Zimbabwe becomes the first Test team to tour Pakistan since 2009. The two T20s and three ODIs are all held at Lahore. The Zimbabweans are given State-guest-level security. Pakistan win all games, save for the final ODI which is washed out.
March 5, 2017
West Indies World Twenty20 winning captain Darren Sammy, center, dances with Pakistani players during the opening of the Pakistan Super League final, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 5, 2017
The Pakistan Super League final is played in Lahore. The T20 tournament is normally played in the UAE, but the Pakistan Cricket Board is keen to prove its readiness to host international players. The match is staged successfully without incident. International players, including Marlon Samuels, Darren Sammy and Chris Jordan, make the trip.
September 2017
Welcome to Lahore: World XI cricketers, from left, Imran Tahir, Morne Morkel, Ben Cutting and Faf du Plessis arrive at the Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday. AAMIR QURESHI
A World XI side led by South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, plays three official T20s in Lahore. Pakistan wins the series 2-1. Other big names that make the trip include George Bailey, David Miller, Hashim Amla, Samuel Badree and veteran Paul Collingwood.
October 2017
Thisara Perera (far right) led an under-strength SL team for a T20 in 2017
The Sri Lankans return to Lahore for the first time in eight years since the horrific terror attack on their team bus. Sri Lanka agree to play a solitary T20 in Pakistan, as a continuation of the tour of the UAE. The third and final T20 match of the series is played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. However, the pull out of several big players from the Sri Lankan side for the Pakistan leg of the tour takes the sheen out of the contest, and Pakistan win easily by 36 runs.
April 2018
West Indies captain Jason Mohammed (L) and Pakistan's captain Sarfraz Ahmed (R) hold the trophy before the first Twenty20 (T20) match between Pakistan and West Indies at the National Stadium in Karachi on April 1, 2018.
It's the turn of West Indies, albiet a weakened squad, to tour for three back-to-back T20Is. They were supposed to tour in November 2017 but for various reasons, ranging from bad weather to security concerns, the tour is postponed. Karachi, the venue for all three games, hosts its first international game since 2009. However, several star West Indians, including Chris Gayle and Jason Holder, pull out and an under-strength squad led by Jason Mohammed is hurriedly cobbled together just days before the first match. In fact, the West Indies board was willing to offer big cash incentives to its players to tour. The series is expectedly one-sided with Pakistan winning all three, two of them with enormous margins of 143 runs and 82 runs.
September-October 2019
Sri Lankan batsman Banuka Rajapaksa hits a six as Pakistani captain Sarfaraz Ahmed looks on during the second Twenty20 match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 7, 2019.
Sri Lanka return, this time for a longer tour of three T20Is and three ODIs, played at Karachi and Lahore respectively. There was hope of a two-Test series instead but with several senior players opting out it was decided to convert it to a limited-overs tour. However, soon after Sri Lanka named its squads, the Sri Lankan government is warned of a possible security threat to its players. Pakistan are not willing to shift the series to a neutral venue. With the tour again in serious doubt, the Pakistan Cricket Board calls on its government and the Sri Lankans are soon assured of security normally provided for heads of State, and the tour is given the go ahead again.
Despite an under-strength squad, Sri Lanka sweep all three T20Is but lose the ODIs 2-0 (the first match was abandoned). The feedback on the security arrangements from the visitors is positive. The Test leg of the tour is scheduled for Rawalpindi and Karachi in December.
