The second Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka has been moved from Lahore to Rawalpindi because of the severe smog choking the Punjab capital, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Tuesday. The match, originally scheduled for Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium from 17 to 21 November, will now be played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on the same dates.
"The second Test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, originally scheduled to be played in Lahore from November 17 to 21, has been relocated to Rawalpindi due to prevailing weather conditions," PCB spokesperson Amir Mir said in a post on X. He said the decision was taken in view of increasing smog levels in Lahore and concerns over deteriorating air quality.
Lahore has been grappling with severe smog for about ten days, with the city's Air Quality Index reportedly touching 600, placing it among the world's most polluted cities. At the time of the announcement, Lahore had the worst air quality of any city in the world, according to IQAir, the Swiss technology company that monitors air quality, and the thick seasonal smog that affects parts of India and Pakistan between October and December has grown worse with each passing day.
The venue change means both Tests of the two-match series will now be played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where the first Test is currently under way. The relocation involves only a change of venue, with the original five-day schedule remaining intact, and Rawalpindi will consequently host the entire series.
The decision will come as a relief to the players, who would have faced hazardous air in Lahore. Smog of the density seen in the city this week can cut visibility to a few hundred metres, irritate eyes and lungs, and make sustained outdoor exertion genuinely dangerous, and an international Test match, played over five days in the open, is among the worst possible fixtures to stage in such conditions.
On the field, the series opener is firmly in Pakistan's hands. The hosts declared their first innings at 434 for nine before reducing Sri Lanka to 114 for three at the close of the second day, with the visitors still trailing by 320 runs. Debutant Tayyab Arif had earlier smashed the fastest fifty on Test debut by a Pakistani, striking 57 off 51 balls on the opening day.
The move is the latest disruption caused by Lahore's winter smog, which has become an annual crisis. The city topped the global pollution ranking again this week, with air quality described as "very unhealthy", and the provincial government has repeatedly resorted to school closures, traffic restrictions and emergency measures that have so far failed to clear the air.
For Sri Lanka, the change of venue removes one unknown from the tour. The visitors had prepared for a second Test at Gaddafi Stadium, a ground with its own character and history, and must now instead return to the scene of the first Test, where Pakistan already hold the advantage and where the pitch and conditions are now familiar to the hosts.
The two-match series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025–27 cycle, adding importance to the encounters as both teams compete for valuable championship points. Pakistan, who sit near the bottom of the table, can ill afford to drop points at home, while Sri Lanka will be looking to salvage something from a tour that has so far gone against them.
Whether the smog lifts in time for any cricket in Lahore this winter is an open question. For now, the PCB's decision takes the immediate problem off the table, and both teams will stay in Rawalpindi, where the air, while far from clean, is at least playable, and where the second Test will begin on 17 November as planned.
