LAHORE: Pakistan cricket squad will leave for the tour of South Africa via Dubai in the wee hours of Thursday.

During the tour which ends on Feb 6, the visitors will play three Test matches, five One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals.

Karachi based players including skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq will travel from Karachi. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah will join the team on Dec 20 due to personal reasons.

After featuring in a three-day warm-up against a South Africa Invitational XI at Benoni from Dec 19 to 21, the tourists play the first Test at Centurion from Dec 26. The second Test will be staged in Cape Town from Jan 3 to 7 while the third Test is in Johannesburg from Jan 11 to 15. The Test rubber will be followed by the ODI and T20 series.

Tour schedule:

Dec 19-21: Three-day match vs SA Invitation XI, Benoni

Dec 26-30: First Test, Centurion

Jan 3-7: Second Test, Cape Town

Jan 11-15: Third Test, Johannesburg

Jan 19: First ODI, Port Elizabeth

Jan 22: Second ODI, Durban

Jan 25: Third ODI, Centurion

Jan 27: Fourth ODI, Johannesburg

Jan 30: Fifth ODI, Cape Town

Feb 1: First Twenty20, Cape Town

Feb 3: Second Twenty20, Johannesburg

Feb 6: Third Twenty20, Centurion.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2018