West Indies to play three Tests, five ODIs in Pakistan

Pakistan will host West Indies for three Tests and five one-day internationals in November and December, though the itinerary for the tour has yet to be finalised. That has been delayed until the outcome of the ICC Champions Trophy, to be held in India between October 7 and November 5

Pakistan, seeded in the main round, await the result of West Indies matches, which are in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. "The tour is confirmed. However the itinerary will be finalised later due to some logistical reasons," Subhan Ahmed,a PCB official, told Reuters.

The PCB added that it had been requested by West Indies to schedule the one-day internationals first, but that given the winter season it would be better to play the Tests first. "In the last two series against England and India we lost a lot of time due to bad light," Ahmed said. "The floodlights also don't improve the light. So it would be better to have the Tests first."

He said the PCB would use five venues -- Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Multan and Faisalabad -- to host all the matches.

The West Indies last toured Pakistan in 1997-98 and a proposed tour in 2002 was shifted to Sharjah over security concerns following the September 11 attacks.