Second Pakistan vs New Zealand Test moved from Multan to Karachi because of weather concerns

The second and final Test between Pakistan and New Zealand, scheduled for a January 3 start in Multan, has been moved to Karachi - and to January 2 - because of poor weather conditions in Multan.

As reported by ESPNcricinfo on Friday, talks were on between the two boards to rejig the schedule as severe fog and even smog is expected in Punjab - Multan and Lahore are both in the area - in early January. The PCB noted in a statement on Saturday that the weather in Multan had "already disrupted flight operations and may also potentially result in the loss of playing hours".

The change means that the entire series - two World Test Championship matches and three World Cup Super League ODIs - will now be played in Karachi. The first Test will be played from December 26 to 30, and, with the Test starting a day earlier than expected, the ODIs will now be played on January 9, 11 and 13.

Multan hosted the second Test between Pakistan and England in early December, and while there were no visibility-related interruptions then, air quality was notably worse than it was in Rawalpindi, where the first Test was played. At the time, the flight to Multan was, in fact, delayed by almost four hours because of fog, and visibility early in the morning was significantly lower than normal.

However, the sun did burn away most of the fog by the time play started, at 10am local time, and there were no delays on that front.

Since then, though, Multan has been overcast and that is expected to continue. On several occasions over the past week, the motorway from Lahore to Multan has been closed to traffic for several hours due to foggy conditions.

Revised itinerary
December 26 to 30: 1st Test
January 2 to 6: 2nd Test
January 9: 1st ODI
January 11: 2nd ODI
January 13: 3rd ODI
All the matches will be played in Karachi