Lahore (Staff Report): Pakistan cricket team left for West Indies Tuesday night for West Indies tour including four T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests.
ODI Captain Sarfraz Ahmad and head coach Mickey Arthur, while speaking to media at Karachi Airport, termed the Windies tour crucial for Pakistan’s direct qualification for 2019 Cricket World Cup.
Coach Arthur expressed his depression and disappointment over PSL spot-fixing scandal that has engulfed his team, adding any players found guilty only had themselves to blame.
But he added players could not plead ignorance about a failure to report approaches by would-be fixers because they had been warned repeatedly.
Pakistan and the West Indies, currently eighth and ninth in the one-day rankings, are struggling for a direct place in the 2019 World Cup in England.
West Indies will host Pakistan for a seven-week tour beginning at the end of March, comprising two T20Is, three ODIs and three Tests spread across five venues in the Caribbean.
Complete schedule of Pakistan tour to West Indies
March 26: 1st T20I – Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
March 30: 2nd T20I – Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad
April 1: 3rd T20I – Queen’s Park Oval
April 2: 4th T20I – Queen’s Park Oval
April 7: 1st ODI – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana
April 9: 2nd ODI – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana
April 11: 3rd ODI – National Cricket Stadium, Guyana
April 15-17: Tour Match – Trelawny Stadium, Jamaica
April 22-26: 1st Test – Sabina Park, Jamaica
April 30-May 4: 2nd Test – Kensington Oval, Bridgetown
May 10-14: 3rd Test – Windsor Park, Dominica