Windies to host Pakistan for three Tests, three ODIs, two T20s

Barbados [West Indies], Jan.12 (ANI): West Indies will host Pakistan for a seven-week long cricket tour from March to May, featuring two T20Is, three ODIs and as many Test matches spread across five venues in the Caribbean. It will be Pakistan's first tour of West Indies since 2013, when the visiting side went on to win the five-match ODI series 3-1 and swept a pair of T20Is and their first Test tour of the Caribbean since a drawn two-match series in 2011. According to the ESPNcricinfo, the competitive action will start on March 31, with two T20Is to be played at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago. Pakistan will then head to Guyana for all three ODIs from April 7 to April 11. The ODI series is crucial heading into the September 2017 cutoff date for 2019 ICC World Cup qualification. Pakistan are presently in a serious danger of failing to qualify directly for the ICC's pinnacle 50-over tournament in the United Kingdom as they are sitting in eighth position on 89 points - two behind Bangladesh and two ahead of the West Indies. Host England and the seven highest-ranked sides on the ICC ODI Team Rankings as on 30 September 2017 will qualify directly for the event proper to be held from May 30, 2019 to July 15, 2019. The four bottom-ranked sides will be joined by six teams from the ICC World Cricket League in the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 and the top two sides will complete the 10-team World Cup line-up. Meanwhile, Pakistan are also scheduled to play a three-day warm-up match at Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica beginning on April 15 before the first of three Tests begins at Sabina Park on April 22. The tour will also give a chance to the Caribbean side to make amends for their 1-2 Test series loss to Pakistan in the UAE last October-November.(ANI)