Lahore has had ten days of smog, and the second Sri Lanka Test has moved to Rawalpindi
Pakistan and Sri Lanka will play both Tests of their series at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium after the PCB pulled the 17-21 November match out of smog-hit Lahore.
Nov 11, 2026
The second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka will not be played in Lahore. The Pakistan Cricket Board moved it to Rawalpindi on Tuesday, 10 November, after about ten days of heavy smog over the city. The dates stay the same, 17 to 21 November, so both Tests in the series will now be played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where the first is already under way.
PCB spokesperson Amir Mir announced the switch on X and gave the reason as “prevailing weather conditions”. Anyone who has been in Lahore this month knows what that means. Dawn reported that the city’s Air Quality Index had reached 600, which puts it among the worst readings anywhere in the world.
The broadcasters had doubts as well
Air quality was not the only worry. Reports said the broadcasters had reservations about the quality of the coverage they could produce if the Test went ahead in heavy smog. A Test that viewers cannot see properly is not much use to anyone selling it.
So the Gaddafi Stadium loses a Test, and this has happened before at this time of year. In 2020 the board took three T20Is against Zimbabwe out of Lahore for the same reason, and the whole of that tour was played in Rawalpindi behind closed doors.
Sri Lanka know the problem from Delhi
This is the second Sri Lanka fixture in a week to be taken out of a city with a winter smog problem. Their first ODI in India, set for Delhi on 13 December, has been moved to Visakhapatnam, with the BCCI citing “potential weather disruption” alongside renovation work at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, so Delhi’s air was only half the reason there.
They have played through it before. In the Delhi Test of December 2017, half their side came out after lunch on the second day wearing masks, and play kept stopping as Lahiru Gamage and Suranga Lakmal went off unwell. Those are not pictures any board wants from its own ground.
Where the first Test stands
Pakistan were well on top after two days of the series opener. They declared on 434 for 9 on day two, with Saud Shakeel making 93, and had Sri Lanka 114 for 3 at the close, still 320 behind. The series counts towards the World Test Championship, and the move at least means neither side has to pack up and get used to a new ground in the three days between the two Tests.