England arrives for 1st test series in Pakistan since 2005

England's cricket team has arrived in Islamabad to play its first test series in Pakistan since 2005

England's cricket team arrived in Islamabad early Sunday to play its first test series in Pakistan since 2005.

Led by Ben Stokes, England will kick off the tour in Rawalpindi - an adjacent city to Islamabad - which hosts the first test from next Thursday. The second test will be played at Multan from December 9-13 before England round off the tour with the final test at Karachi from December 17-21.

England had played a seven-match T20 series in Pakistan prior to the T20 World Cup in Australia where it went on to beat Pakistan in the final.

England was due to tour Pakistan last year before the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates but abandoned the tour due to security concerns after New Zealand had aborted its tour to Pakistan just minutes before the toss in the first ODI at Rawalpindi.

There were some concerns over England’s test tour to Pakistan after former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was wounded in Wazirabad, a district in eastern Punjab province, during his protest against the sitting government.

“It’s been a long time since England have played test cricket in Pakistan,” Stokes had said in Abu Dhabi last Friday where the team trained for a week before flying out to Pakistan.

“With what happened with Imran Khan recently, there was a little bit of concern, but we have Reg Dickason, who has been the security man for many years with England, and we left it in his capable hands.”