Pakistan to Host South Africa and New Zealand in ODI Tri-series After 20 Years – News18

Pakistan will host New Zealand and South Africa for a ODI tri-series to be held in February 2025, ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy, the Pakistan Cricket Board said ina statement.

The series was greenlit on the sidelines of an International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Dubai, according to Pakistan’s board.

Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi met the Chairman of Cricket South Africa (CSA), Mr Lawson Naidoo and the Chairman of New Zealand Cricket (NZC), Mr Roger Twose, according to a release.

International cricket only fully returned to Pakistan in 2020, following attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009.

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Pakistan was stripped of its right to co-host the World Cup two years later, with security concerns lingering in the aftermath of those attacks.

The country last hosted a tri-series in 2004, which involved Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Newly elected PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said the tri-series will serve as a build-up to the eight-nation Champions Trophy, the first ICC event in the country since the 1996 World Cup.

“The tri-series between Pakistan, South Africa and New Zealand will be an exciting event and it is after a long time that Pakistan will host such a tournament,” Naqvi said in the PCB release.

“The PCB is also looking forward to hosting the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 which will be a great pleasure for Pakistan to host the top eight ODI teams on its soil.”

(With inputs from Agencies)