The 2008–09 international cricket season was between September 2008 and March 2009. The season saw the security concerns for cricket in Pakistan reach a pinnacle. The ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in Pakistan in September 2008, was postponed to 2009 after five of the participating nations refused to send their teams for the event. In November 2008, a Pakistani militant group launched terror attacks in Mumbai. This led to India cancelling their tour of Pakistan originally scheduled for January and February 2009. Sri Lanka agreed to tour Pakistan in place of India. However, the tour was jeopardised by a terror attack in Lahore where gunmen fired at a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team, injuring six team members. The Champions Trophy was later relocated to South Africa. No international cricket were played in Pakistan for more than five years. This period of isolation ended when Zimbabwe toured Pakistan in May 2015. After successfully hosting a few T20Is against World-XI, the Sri Lanka cricket team and the West Indians from 2017 to 2018, a few matches of the Pakistan Super League from 2017 to 2019, the whole season in 2020 as well as hosting complete tours against Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi cricket teams respectively during the 2019–20 season, built a good reputation of Pakistan. Hence, by the end of 2019, the Pakistan Cricket Board, announced that they would no longer play any of their future home matches at a neutral venue, indicating that International Cricket has returned to the country on full-time basis.
Season overview International tours Start date Home team Away team Results [Matches] Test ODI T20I 2–0 — — 0–1 1–2 — — 2–0 — 2–0 2–0 1–0 — 3–0 — 1–0 5–0 — 2–0 2–2 1–0 — 0–5 — 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 1–4 2–0 0–2 — — — 2–1 — 0–0 1–2 — — 0–5 — — 1–4 0–1 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–2 3–2 2–0 0–1 1–3 2–0 International tournaments Start date Tournament Winners Quadrangular Twenty20 Series Tri-Series Women's Tri-Series Minor tournaments Start date Tournament Winners ICC Intercontinental Cup Final ICC World Cricket League Division Four Associates Tri-Series ICC Americas Championship ICC World Cricket League Division Three
Pre-season rankings
ICC Test Championship 1 August 2008 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 26 3597 118 2 27 3082 115 3 30 3394 113 4 31 3274 104 5 23 2364 103 6 19 1905 100 7 21 1738 83 8 22 1791 81 9 14 0 0Reference: ICC Official Rankings List, 1 August 2008
ICC ODI Championship 31 August 2008 Rank Team Matches Points Rating 1 26 3378 130 2 25 2938 118 3 27 3142 116 4 21 2443 116 5 36 4051 113 6 25 2752 110 7 27 2838 105 8 21 1994 95 9 25 1138 46 10 8 174 22 11 15 237 16 12 3 0 0Reference: ICC Official Rankings List, 31 August 2008
September
ICC Intercontinental Cup
Team 108 7 6 1 0 4 0 106 7 5 0 2 5 0 96 7 4 2 0 5 1 82 7 3 1 2 4 1 48 7 3 4 0 1 0 29 7 1 5 1 2 0 29 7 1 5 1 2 0 26 7 1 6 0 2 0 Win – 14 points Draw if more than 8 hours of play lost – 3 points (otherwise 0 points) First Innings leader – 6 points (independent of final result) Abandoned without a ball played – 10 points.ICC – Intercontinental Cup icc-cricket.yahoo.com
No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result First-class 3–6 September Irving Romaine Louis Burger National Stadium, Hamilton by 103 runs First-class 3–6 October Louis Burger William Porterfield Wanderers Cricket Ground, Windhoek by 8 runs First-class 11–14 October Steve Tikolo William Porterfield Nairobi Gymkhana Club, Nairobi by innings and 65 runs Final First-class 30 October–2 November Louis Burger William Porterfield St George's Park, Port Elizabeth by 9 wickets Note: For matches in previous seasons, see the main article
October
World Cricket League Division 4
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result 1st Match 4 October Nowroz Mangal Colin Rika Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam by 80 runs 2nd Match 4 October Tabarak Dar Joe Scuderi University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 46 runs 3rd Match 4 October Hamisi Abdallah Mathew Hague Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 34 runs 4th Match 5 October Nowroz Mangal Mathew Hague University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 122 runs 5th Match 5 October Colin Rika Joe Scuderi Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 254 runs 6th Match 5 October Hamisi Abdallah Tabarak Dar Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam by 134 runs 7th Match 7 October Colin Rika Tabarak Dar University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 129 runs 8th Match 7 October Joe Scuderi Mathew Hague Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam by 29 runs (D/L) 9th Match 7 October Hamisi Abdallah Nowroz Mangal Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 8 runs (D/L) 10th Match 8 October Nowroz Mangal Tabarak Dar Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 4 wickets 11th Match 8 October Colin Rika Mathew Hague Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam by 79 runs 12th Match 8 October Hamisi Abdallah Joe Scuderi University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam No result Replay of12th Match 9 October Hamisi Abdallah Joe Scuderi University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 9 wickets 13th Match 10 October Nowroz Mangal Joe Scuderi Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam 93 runs 14th Match 10 October Tabarak Dar Mathew Hague Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 100 runs 15th Match 10 October Hamisi Abdallah Colin Rika University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 4 runs
Playoff matches No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result 1st Place Playoff 11 October Nowroz Mangal Tabarak Dar University of Dar es Salaam Ground, Dar es Salaam by 57 runs 3rd Place Playoff 11 October Nicholas Northcote Hamisi Abdallah Annil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam by 70 runs 5th Place Playoff 11 October Colin Rika Mathew Hague Kinondoni Ground, Dar es Salaam by 27 runs
Final Placings
PosTeamPromotion/Relegation 1st Promoted to Global Division Three for 2009 2nd 3rd Remained in Global Division Four for 2010 4th 5th Relegated to Global Division Five for 2010 6th
Australia in India
Test series No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue Result Test 1887 9–13 October Anil Kumble Ricky Ponting M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore Match drawn Test 1889 17–21 October Mahendra Singh Dhoni Ricky Ponting Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali by 320 runs Test 1891 29 October–2 November Anil Kumble Ricky Ponting Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, Delhi Match drawn Test 1892 6–10 November Mahendra Singh Dhoni Ricky Ponting Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur by 172 runs
New Zealand in Bangladesh
No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue ResultODI series ODI 2763 9 October Mohammad Ashraful Daniel Vettori Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur by 7 wickets ODI 2764 11 October Mohammad Ashraful Daniel Vettori Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur by 75 runs ODI 2765 14 October Mohammad Ashraful Daniel Vettori Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong by 79 runsTest series Test 1888 17–21 October Mohammad Ashraful Daniel Vettori Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Chittagong by 3 wickets Test 1890 25–29 October Mohammad Ashraful Daniel Vettori Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur Match drawn
Quadrangular Twenty20 Series in Canada
No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue ResultGroup stage T20I 69 10 October Mahela Jayawardene Prosper Utseya Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 5 wickets T20I 70 10 October Sunil Dhaniram Shoaib Malik Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 35 runs T20I 71 11 October Sunil Dhaniram Prosper Utseya Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City Match tied; won bowl-off T20I 72 11 October Tillakaratne Dilshan Shoaib Malik Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 3 wickets T20I 73 12 October Shoaib Malik Prosper Utseya Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 7 wickets T20I 74 12 October Sunil Dhaniram Mahela Jayawardene Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 15 runsThird place playoff T20I 75 13 October Prosper Utseya Sunil Dhaniram Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 109 runsFinal T20I 76 13 October Shoaib Malik Mahela Jayawardene Maple Leaf North-West Ground, King City by 5 wickets
Associates Tri-Series in Kenya
Group stage No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result ODI 2766 17 October William Porterfield Prosper Utseya Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi by 156 runs ODI 2767 18 October Steve Tikolo William Porterfield Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi by 86 runs ODI 2768 19 October Steve Tikolo Prosper Utseya Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi by 95 runs ODI 2768a 21 October William Porterfield Prosper Utseya Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi No result ODI 2768b 22 October Steve Tikolo William Porterfield Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi No result ODI 2768c 23 October Steve Tikolo Prosper Utseya Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi No resultFinal No. Date Team 1 Captain 1 Team 2 Captain 2 Venue Result ODI 2768d 25 October Prosper Utseya Steve Tikolo Gymkhana Club Ground, Nairobi No result
Kenya in South Africa
No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue ResultODI series ODI 2769 31 October Johan Botha Steve Tikolo OUTsurance Oval, Bloemfontein by 159 runs ODI 2770 2 November Johan Botha Steve Tikolo De Beers Diamond Oval, Kimberley by 7 wickets
November
Bangladesh in South Africa
No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue ResultOnly T20I T20I 77 5 November Johan Botha Mohammad Ashraful New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg by 12 runs (D/L)ODI series ODI 2771 7 November Johan Botha Mohammad Ashraful Senwes Park, Potchefstroom by 61 runs ODI 2772 9 November Graeme Smith Mohammad Ashraful Willowmoore Park, Benoni by 128 runs ODI 2773a 12 November Graeme Smith Mohammad Ashraful Buffalo Park, East London No resultTest series Test 1893 19–23 November Graeme Smith Mohammad Ashraful OUTsurance Oval, Bloemfontein by an innings and 129 runs Test 1895 26–30 November Graeme Smith Mohammad Ashraful SuperSport Park, Centurion by an innings and 48 runs
Pakistan vs West Indies in the United Arab Emirates
No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue ResultODI series ODI 2773 12 November Shoaib Malik Chris Gayle Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 4 wickets ODI 2775 14 November Shoaib Malik Chris Gayle Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 24 runs ODI 2776 16 November Shoaib Malik Chris Gayle Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi by 31 runs
England in India
No. Date Home captain Away captain Venue ResultODI series ODI 2774 14 November Mahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot by 158 runs ODI 2777 17 November Mahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground, Indore by 54 runs ODI 2778 20 November Mahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen Green Park Stadium, Kanpur by 16 runs (D/L) ODI 2781 23 November Mahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore by 19 runs (D/L) ODI 2783 26 NovemberMahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen Barabati Stadium, Cuttack by 6 wicketsTest series Test 1898 11–15 DecemberMahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai by 6 wickets Test 1901 19–23 DecemberMahendra Dhoni Kevin Pietersen Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali Match drawn
2 further ODIs were scheduled for Guwahati (29 November) and Delhi (2 December) but were cancelled for security reasons following the 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks. The 1st Test was moved from Ahmedabad to Chennai and the 2nd Test from Mumbai to Mohali. After initially flying home, England flew out to Abu Dhabi on 4 December for a training camp, before then returning to India for the test series.
New Zealand in Australia