The United Arab Emirates will host a Twenty20 tri-series including Afghanistan and Pakistan later this month, as part of the teams’ buildup for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Sharjah will host all seven games of the tri-series, starting August 29. Teams play against each other twice before the top two qualify for the final.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have already secured direct qualification for the T20 World Cup to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. UAE could also qualify, but it has to play ICC’s Asia-East Asia and Pacific qualifiers in Oman in October.
Afghanistan, which finished seventh in the last T20 World Cup, hasn’t played a T20 since a bilateral series against Zimbabwe late last year. Pakistan is currently playing a T20 series against the West Indies in the United States.
The tri-series will be followed by the Asia Cup, also scheduled to be held in the UAE, from September 9, when Afghanistan takes on Hong Kong in the opening game.
