The historic Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is set to welcome its first Test in over three years when South Africa face Pakistan in October. The venue, recently renovated ahead of the Champions Trophy, will host the opening Test of the two-match series starting October 12, marking the beginning of the new World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle for both sides.
Gaddafi Stadium’s Test Cricket Return
The clash will be South Africa’s first red-ball appearance since lifting the WTC trophy earlier this year. It also marks only the second Test at the Gaddafi Stadium since international cricket resumed in Pakistan in 2019. Lahore last hosted a Test in March 2022 against Australia.
Rawalpindi will host the second Test from October 20-24, after undergoing significant renovation work in recent months.
𝑷𝑪𝑩 𝑪𝑶𝑶 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝑨𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, “𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉-𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔.”
Faisalabad to Host ODIs After 17 Years
One of the biggest highlights of the tour is the return of international cricket to Iqbal Stadium in Faisalabad, which will host ODIs for the first time in 17 years. The three-match ODI series begins on October 28, following a three-game T20I series.
Initially, Faisalabad was scheduled to host T20Is against Bangladesh earlier this year, but those games were shifted due to border tensions between India and Pakistan. Now, the city will get its chance to shine in front of a packed crowd.
𝑨 𝑷𝑪𝑩 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅, “𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔.”
South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2025 Schedule
- October 12-16 – 1st Test, Lahore
- October 20-24 – 2nd Test, Rawalpindi
- October 28 – 1st T20I, Rawalpindi
- October 31 – 2nd T20I, Lahore
- November 1 – 3rd T20I, Lahore
- November 4 – 1st ODI, Faisalabad
- November 6 – 2nd ODI, Faisalabad
- November 8 – 3rd ODI, Faisalabad
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