It has been an incredible few months for Pakistan cricket and the next year brings the possibility of more memorable moments.
At one point, it seemed 2021 was going to turn into a nightmare after New Zealand and then England pulled out of their scheduled tours of the country at the last moment. Their preparations for the T20 World Cup in the UAE had supposedly received a body blow.
However, Pakistan turned adversity into an opportunity, taking the T20 World Cup by storm as they defeated India for the first time in a World Cup. Five straight wins took them to the semi-finals, where an extraordinary knock right at the end from Australia's Matthew Wade denied them a ticket to the final.
Still, it marked the high-point of a phenomenal year that also had a historic T20 series sweep in Bangladesh. Star batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan continued their record-breaking run in the shortest format - Rizwan topped the charts with more than 1,000 runs in the calendar year and Babar right behind in second.
Next year, T20 will be the flavour of the season as well as it will be Australia's turn to host the tournament they couldn't in 2020 due to the pandemic.
There will be other reasons for Pakistan to be hopeful. Australia have agreed to tour the country for the first time since 1998, while England are scheduled to visit twice.
Pakistan cricket schedule 2022
January-February
Pakistan Super League
March
Home series against Australia
March 3, 2022: First Test, National Stadium, Karachi
March 12: Second Test, Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
March 21: Third Test, Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore
March 29: First ODI, Lahore
March 31: Second ODI, Lahore
April 2: Third ODI, Lahore
April 4: One-off T20, Lahore
July-August
Away series against Sri Lanka
Two Tests, three ODIs
September
T20 Asia Cup in Sri Lanka
September/October
Home series against England
Seven T20s
October 16-November 13
T20 World Cup in Australia
November
Home series against New Zealand
Two Tests and three ODIs
November-December
Home series against England
Three Tests
