Pakistan to host Sri Lanka and England for tri-series and Tests from October 2026

Pakistan will host Sri Lanka and England across three formats between October 9 and November 21, in a home window that covers T20Is, an ODI tri-series and two World Test Championship Tests. The Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed the full schedule on August 19 through an official press release.

Sri Lanka will begin the tour with a three-match T20I series at Rawalpindi on October 9, 11 and 13. England join the action for the ODI tri-series that follows, bringing together three former world champions on Pakistani soil for a significant multi-format assignment.

The ODI leg opens on October 18 at Rawalpindi, where Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the first match of the round-robin phase. Fixtures then alternate between Rawalpindi and Lahore before the tri-series concludes with the final at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on October 31. The PCB has confirmed that the tri-series forms part of the build-up to the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027.

Sri Lanka will play a three-day warm-up fixture in Islamabad from November 4 to 6, 2026, giving the touring squad time to acclimatise before the Test series gets under way. The two-match series carries ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 points for both sides.

The first Test is scheduled at Rawalpindi from November 9 to 13, and the second runs from November 17 to 21 in Lahore. Pakistan are currently on a three-Test tour of England as part of the same WTC cycle, meaning this home assignment follows directly after their England commitments wrap up.

For Pakistan, the back-to-back Tests at familiar venues in Rawalpindi and Lahore represent a concrete opportunity to improve their WTC points percentage before the 2025-27 cycle closes in 2027.

Pakistan enter this home series placed eighth in the WTC standings, a position that reflects a 1-1 series result against the West Indies in their most recent completed home Test assignment. The upcoming Tests against Sri Lanka are therefore important for their prospects of finishing higher in the final table.

Sri Lanka, ranked sixth in the WTC standings, arrive carrying the pressure of a difficult run in Test cricket. They are currently trailing India 1-0 in a two-match home series after losing the first Test in Galle. A tour of Pakistan, where conditions will differ markedly from those in Galle, will test the depth of their squad across both the warm-up match and the two WTC Tests.