Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium pitch report: Test, ODI and T20I records and stats
Rawalpindi hosts three T20Is and three tri-series ODIs this month. Here is how the ground plays in every format, from the ODI chase that wins almost every time now to the Test pitches that turned on Pakistan.
Apr 24, 2023 · Updated Oct 5, 2026
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is about to host a month of international cricket. Pakistan play Sri Lanka in three T20Is there on 9, 11 and 13 October, the ground then stages the first three games of the ODI tri-series with England and Sri Lanka on 18, 20 and 22 October, and Sri Lanka come back for a World Test Championship Test from 9 November. If you want the one-line pitch report, it is this: in one-day cricket here, the side batting second has won seven of the nine completed ODIs since 2020, and every captain who has won the toss since 2023 has chosen to bowl first. Six of those seven went on to win.
The ground’s Test reputation runs the other way to the ODI one. It produced England’s 657 in 2022, the highest total ever made here, and then two years later England were bowled out for 112 on a pitch built for spin. Below is the full profile across all three formats, with records computed from every international innings played at the ground.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium at a glance
| Location | Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Established | 1992 (replaced the Pindi Club Ground as the city’s international venue) |
| Capacity | Usually given as 15,000 (post-renovation reports vary) |
| Home teams | Pakistan, Islamabad United and Rawalpindiz (PSL), Northern |
| First ODI | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 19 January 1992 |
| First Test | Pakistan v Zimbabwe, 9 December 1993 |
| First T20I | Pakistan v Zimbabwe, 7 November 2020 |
| Internationals played | 17 Tests, 31 ODIs, 16 T20Is |
The ODI count leaves out seven fixtures that never got going. Four were abandoned without a ball bowled, two of them at the 2025 Champions Trophy (Australia v South Africa on 25 February and Pakistan v Bangladesh two days later). Three more were the New Zealand ODIs of September 2021, which were called off when the tour was cancelled on security grounds just before the first match.
Rawalpindi pitch report: is it a batting track?
In ODIs, yes, and more so than it used to be. The average first-innings score across the 21 ODIs played here between 1992 and 2006 was 233.8. Across the ten since cricket returned in 2020 it is 262.3, and in the seven since 2023 it is 265.4.
The bigger change is who wins. In that first era the side batting first won ten of the 21, close to an even split. Since 2020, the chasing side has won seven of the nine with a result (the tenth was a tie). Captains have noticed. Every toss winner in the seven ODIs since 2023 has put the opposition in, and only Sri Lanka, in November 2025, lost after doing so.
| ODIs at Rawalpindi | Matches | Avg 1st innings | Batting first won |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 to 2006 | 21 | 233.8 | 10 of 21 |
| 2020 to 2026 | 10 | 262.3 | 2 of 9 |
| 2023 to 2026 | 7 | 265.4 | 1 of 7 |
In T20Is the chase is just as strong. Across 14 completed T20Is the side batting second has won ten, and the average first-innings score is 153.6, which is modest for a ground that also hosts the PSL.
Tests are a different story again. The side batting first has won only three of the 17 Tests at the ground and lost ten. Since 2022 the first-innings average is 409.2, inflated by England’s 657. The last two Tests here, though, were spin contests. Noman Ali took 6 for 42 as England were bowled out for 112 in October 2024, and in October 2025 South Africa’s spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer took 17 of the 20 Pakistan wickets between them.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium ODI records
Three of the ground’s headline ODI records have changed since international cricket returned here in 2020. The highest total, the most runs and the most wickets all now belong to the current Pakistan side, and all three older marks were set by Pakistan in the 1990s and 2000s.
| Record | Holder | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | Pakistan 337/3 | v New Zealand, 29 April 2023 (chasing 337) |
| Lowest total | Zimbabwe 104 | v Sri Lanka, 9 October 2004 |
| Highest individual score | Gary Kirsten 188* | South Africa v UAE, 16 February 1996 |
| Best bowling | Saqlain Mushtaq 5/20 | Pakistan v England, 30 October 2000 |
| Most runs | Babar Azam 569 | 9 matches, average 81.28 |
| Most wickets | Haris Rauf 17 | 8 matches, average 24.70 |
The 337 is the best ODI story the ground has. New Zealand made 336 for 5 batting first, the second-highest total here, and Pakistan chased it down with ten balls to spare, Fakhar Zaman finishing on 180 not out off 144 balls. Fakhar’s 180 is also the second-highest individual score at the ground, two runs short of Kirsten’s 188 not out against the UAE at the 1996 World Cup.
| Highest ODI scores | Runs | Balls | Against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Kirsten (SA) | 188* | 159 | UAE | 16 Feb 1996 |
| Fakhar Zaman (PAK) | 180* | 144 | New Zealand | 29 Apr 2023 |
| Andrew Hudson (SA) | 161 | 132 | Netherlands | 5 Mar 1996 |
| Sachin Tendulkar (IND) | 141 | 135 | Pakistan | 16 Mar 2004 |
| Ijaz Ahmed (PAK) | 132 | 103 | Zimbabwe | 24 Nov 1998 |
| Best ODI bowling | Figures | Against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saqlain Mushtaq (PAK) | 5/20 | England | 30 Oct 2000 |
| Mohammad Hasnain (PAK) | 5/26 | Zimbabwe | 3 Nov 2020 |
| Arafat Minhas (PAK) | 5/32 (ODI debut) | Australia | 30 May 2026 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed (PAK) | 5/40 | Zimbabwe | 1 Nov 2020 |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi (PAK) | 5/49 | Zimbabwe | 30 Oct 2020 |
Babar Azam passed Inzamam-ul-Haq’s 560 runs to become the ground’s leading ODI run-scorer, and he has done it in nine matches to Inzamam’s 15. Haris Rauf has 17 wickets, six more than Waqar Younis, whose 11 had been the ground record.
Pakistan’s ODI record at Rawalpindi
Pakistan have played 26 ODIs here and won 20, lost five and tied one. The last defeat was against India on 11 February 2006. Since then they have played nine, won eight and tied the other, against Zimbabwe in November 2020, a game Zimbabwe won in the Super Over.
Chasing is where the record is strongest. Pakistan have batted second 14 times at the ground and won 12 of them. That is the number England and Sri Lanka will have in mind if they win the toss on 18, 20 or 22 October, and it is why bowling first has become the default call.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium Test records
| Record | Holder | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | England 657 | v Pakistan, December 2022 (in 101 overs) |
| Lowest total | England 112 | v Pakistan, October 2024 |
| Highest individual score | Rahul Dravid 270 | India v Pakistan, April 2004 |
| Best bowling (innings) | Mohammad Zahid 7/66 | Pakistan v New Zealand, November 1996 |
| Most runs | Babar Azam 636 | 8 Tests, average 53.00 |
| Most wickets | Waqar Younis 23 | 5 Tests, average 27.00 |
Pakistan’s Test record here is six wins, seven defeats and four draws, and it has turned against them recently. Of the six Tests at the ground since 2022 they have won one, the spin-dominated win over England in October 2024, and lost four. One of those defeats was historic for the opposition: in August 2024 Bangladesh beat Pakistan by ten wickets at Rawalpindi for their first Test win against them, after Mushfiqur Rahim made 191. They won the second Test, at the same ground from 30 August, as well.
Dravid’s 270 in 2004 is still the highest Test score at the ground, and India’s 600 in the same match is the second-highest total. Saleem Malik’s 237 against Australia in 1994 is next on the list of individual scores. In the bowling, Maharaj’s 7 for 102 in October 2025 is the second-best innings return here, behind Zahid’s 7 for 66.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium T20I records
| Record | Holder | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Highest total | Pakistan 195/5 | v Zimbabwe, 23 November 2025 |
| Highest chase | New Zealand 194/4 | v Pakistan, 24 April 2023 |
| Lowest total | New Zealand 90 | v Pakistan, 20 April 2024 |
| Highest individual score | Mark Chapman 104* | New Zealand v Pakistan, 24 April 2023 |
| Best bowling | Usman Qadir 4/13 | Pakistan v Zimbabwe, 10 November 2020 |
| Most runs | Babar Azam 330 | 14 matches |
| Most wickets | Mohammad Nawaz 13 | 6 matches, average 9.84 |
Chapman’s hundred is the only T20I century at the ground, and it came in the highest chase here: Pakistan made 193 for 5 with Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 98, and New Zealand got there with four balls left. Pakistan have won eight and lost four of their 14 T20Is at Rawalpindi, with two ending in no result. Against Sri Lanka here they are two wins to one, from a tri-series in November 2025, and both wins came chasing.
Rawalpindi’s October and November schedule
The three T20Is against Sri Lanka start at 8pm local time, which is 8.30pm in India. Sahibzada Farhan captains Pakistan.
| Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 9 Oct | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 1st T20I | Rawalpindi |
| Sun 11 Oct | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I | Rawalpindi |
| Tue 13 Oct | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I | Rawalpindi |
| Sun 18 Oct | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ODI | Rawalpindi |
| Tue 20 Oct | Pakistan v England, ODI | Rawalpindi |
| Thu 22 Oct | Sri Lanka v England, ODI | Rawalpindi |
| Sun 25 Oct | Pakistan v England, ODI | Lahore |
| Tue 27 Oct | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, ODI | Lahore |
| Thu 29 Oct | Sri Lanka v England, ODI | Lahore |
| Sat 31 Oct | Tri-series final | Lahore |
| 9 to 13 Nov | Pakistan v Sri Lanka, 1st Test | Rawalpindi |
England have played only four ODIs at Rawalpindi and won one of them, in December 2005. Sri Lanka have played six and won two. Pakistan beat them in all three ODIs here in November 2025, twice chasing.
The Lahore half of the series is covered in our Gaddafi Stadium pitch report, and Pakistan’s other major venues have their own pages for Karachi and Multan. For squad news, England have recalled Mason Crane and Sri Lanka have left out Charith Asalanka. The all-time ODI run list is here.
See all our ground guides and records pages
Photo credit: Alamy