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In order to aid preparations for the Asia Cup in the UAE which is in T20 format as a preparatory event for the T20 World Cup in February-March next year, a T20 tri series has been locked between Pakistan, Afghanistan and UAE in Sharjah. While the official schedule is not out yet, the likely dates have been revealed by Pakistani journalist Furqan Bhatti, according to whom the series will begin on 29 August with the first match between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the second one will be played next day on 30 August between Pakistan and UAE.

The tournament will be played in a double round robin format, with the teams playing each other twice and then the ones finishing top two playing each other once again in the final, which is to be played on 7 September as per the report, just two days before the start of the Asia Cup in which Afghanistan will play the opening match against Hong Kong on 9 September.

It was also revealed that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) wanted to hold this series just before the Asia Cup, as both of them will be held in the UAE so there would be no need to travel back and forth after the end of the tri series and before the start of the Asia Cup.

Originally, this was supposed to be a 3-match T20I series between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and was Pakistan's home series but a third team in UAE has been added and the venue has been changed to Sharjah, perhaps in order to aid Asia Cup preparations for all three teams. It is to be noted that Pakistan and UAE are in the same group in the Asia Cup too where they are scheduled to face each other on the 17th of September.

Pakistan had earlier played a 3-match T20I series against Afghanistan back in March 2023 in Sharjah, in which they had sent a young squad missing the likes of then established players Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman etc. The Men in Green had a tough outing first up against the spin challenge of Afghanistan on supportive pitches as they were able to put up just 92 runs which Afghanistan chased down in the 18th over. The next match saw a slight improvement as they scored a 130 but could not come out on top in a tight finish as Afghanistan won by 7 wickets with a ball to spare. However they showed their spark in the third match, scoring 182 and then bundling out Afghanistan for just 116, but lost the series 2-1.

Pakistan had also played Afghanistan in Sharjah in the T20 Asia Cup in 2022, in which Pakistan was struggling big time in the chase of 130 despite the presence of all the established senior batsmen, which shows that the youngsters were not to blame too much for failing the negotiate the spin trap in their series later on. However, Naseem Shah's famous two sixes in the final over helped Pakistan to clinch a thriller by just 1 wicket. Pakistan's last outing against Afghanistan was in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in the ODI format, in which Afghanistan registered a famous win, comfortably chasing down 283 by 8 wickets. This will be the first time that these two clash after that game.

UAE after winning the ACC Premier Cup 2024 is going to be a part of the Asia Cup for the first time after 2016, and it was in that Asia Cup that Pakistan last played UAE. Despite an early scare of losing three quick wickets at the start, Pakistan avoided an upset and chased down UAE's target of 130 by 7 wickets courtesy of an unbeaten 114-run partnership between Shoaib Malik and Umar Akmal. UAE cricket has seen a steady rise, defeating New Zealand in a T20I match back in 2023 although they lost the series 2-1, however they went one step further in May this year, beating Bangladesh 2-1 in their home T20I series. This tri series will see the first match played between UAE and Pakistan since the T20 Asia Cup in 2016. (That Asia Cup was the first one ever played in the T20 format).

Pakistan is currently on their tour to the USA and West Indies where they will play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs against the West Indies, the first of which is a T20I in Florida, starting tomorrow, 1 August, 5 am Pakistan time. The tour ends with the 3rd ODI in Trinidad on the 12th of August.

Pakistan-Afghanistan-UAE Tri series known details

Match 1: 29 August - Pakistan vs Afghanistan - Sharjah

Match 2: 30 August - Pakistan vs UAE  - Sharjah

Final: 7 September - Sharjah