Defending champions South Africa will tour Pakistan next month to begin the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, with Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium set to host its first test match in more than three years.

South Africa broke its ICC title drought in June with a victory over Australia in the WTC final at Lord’s. Pakistan, by contrast, finished at the bottom of the previous WTC table after losing nine of its 14 matches, including a 2-0 home series defeat to Bangladesh.

“We are looking forward to welcoming South Africa for the opening series of our ICC World Test Championship 2025–27 campaign,” Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Operating Officer Sumair Ahmed said in a statement on Saturday. “Starting the new cycle against the current test champions will provide quality cricket for our players and fans.”

The two-match test series will begin on Oct 12 in Lahore, marking the city’s first test since March 2022, when Australia played at the venue. The second test will be held in Rawalpindi from Oct 20.

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Rawalpindi will also stage the opening T20 on Oct 28, before the teams return to Lahore for the remaining two games on Oct 31 and Nov 1.

The three-match ODI series will be played in Faisalabad from Nov 4–8 at Iqbal Stadium, which is set to host international cricket for the first time in 17 years. Faisalabad was earlier scheduled to stage Pakistan’s T20s against Bangladesh in May, but those games were canceled amid political tensions between India and Pakistan.

Source: Agency