KARACHI: Top-ranked Test side Pakistan are set to make their pink-ball Test debut when they host West Indies in a day-night opening fixture of the three-match series in Dubai from Oct 13.

The remaining Tests of the series will be staged in Abu Dhabi (Oct 21-25) and Sharjah (Oct 30-Nov 3) in the schedule announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday.

The Pakistan-West Indies match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium will be only the second day-night Test to be played with pink balls after Australia hosted the inaugural floodlight against New Zealand in Adelaide last November.

Pakistan are also slated to face Australia in a day-night Test at Brisbane in December after the Aussies play South Africa at Adelaide in November in the series that precedes the Pakistan tour.

West Indies will also play three Twenty20 Internationals and as many ODIs on their trip to the United Arab Emirates, which has been hosting Pakistan’s matches after the terror attacks on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore on March 3, 2009 made the country no-go area for touring teams.

Prior to the Dubai Test, West Indies will play a three-day first-class day-night game against the PCB Patron’s XI at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from Oct 7.

The PCB failed to convince their West Indian counterparts to play the Twenty20 Internationals on their home soil. The first two matches of the rubber will be held in Dubai on Sept 23 and 24, while the last fixture is scheduled to be played in the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sept 27 after the West Indies begin the tour on Sept 20 with a T20 warm-up against an Emirates Cricket Board XI in Dubai.

Schedule:

Sept 20: West Indies vs ECB XI T20 warm-up match (Dubai).

Sept 23: First Twenty20 International (Dubai).

Sept 24: Second Twenty20 International (Dubai).

Sept 27: Third Twenty20 International (Abu Dhabi).

Sept 30: First One-day International (Sharjah, D/N).

Oct 2: Second One-day International (Sharjah, D/N).

Oct 3-4: West Indies vs ECB XI two-day warm-up match (Dubai).

Oct 5: Third One-day International (Abu Dhabi, D/N).

Sept 7-9: PCB Patron’s XI vs West Indies three-day match (Sharjah, D/N).

Oct 13-17: First Test (Dubai, D/N).

Oct 21-25: Second Test (Abu Dhabi).

Oct 30-Nov 3: Third Test (Sharjah).

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2016