Pakistan to face West Indies in two-Test World Test Championship series in 2026

LAHORE (Web Desk) – Pakistan men’s cricket team will tour the West Indies next year for a two-match Test series, with both fixtures scheduled to be played in Trinidad, Cricket West Indies vice-president Azim Bassarath has confirmed.

The tour will run from July 15 to August 7, 2026, and will form part of the ICC World Test Championship cycle.

The announcement was made by Bassarath, who is also president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, during the board’s executive luncheon at the National Cricket Centre in Balmain, Couva. He outlined that the tour will include a four-day warm-up match and two Tests, all hosted in Trinidad.

The four-day warm-up will be staged at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, which will also host the second Test of the series. The opening Test will be played at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain. The complete match schedule, including start dates for each fixture, is yet to be finalised.

Bassarath noted that the Brian Lara Cricket Academy is now fully accredited as an international venue capable of hosting matches in all formats. The Tarouba ground has steadily expanded its international footprint since staging its first international fixture, a women’s One-Day International between West Indies and Sri Lanka, in October 2017.

The venue went on to host its first men’s T20 international in July 2022 when West Indies faced India, followed by its first men’s One-Day International in August 2023, again against India. The academy has also become a regular feature of the Caribbean Premier League calendar, with CPL finals hosted there from 2017 to 2020.

At last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, jointly hosted by the Caribbean and the United States, the Brian Lara Cricket Academy staged the first semi-final, where South Africa defeated Afghanistan by nine wickets. The ground’s selection for high-profile matches has reinforced its status as a key cricketing venue in the region.

Pakistan’s upcoming red-ball tour aligns with the country’s Future Tours Programme. The two sides most recently met in a Test series in January, which ended in a 1-1 draw. Pakistan last toured the West Indies for a Test series in 2021, with that contest also finishing level at 1-1.

Earlier this year, Pakistan visited the Caribbean for limited-overs cricket, playing three One-Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals against the West Indies. The forthcoming Test series will mark Pakistan’s first red-ball assignment in the region since that 2021 tour.