Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Tests 2019: Pakistan Win 1-0 — Abid Ali Centuries in First Two Tests on Debut, Sri Lanka's First Tests in Pakistan Since 2009 Attack, Four Pakistan Centuries in One Innings

Pakistan won the Sri Lanka Test series December 2019 by 1-0 across 2 Tests. Abid Ali won Player of the Series — scoring 109* in his Test debut at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (1st Test, drawn) and 174 at National Cricket Stadium Karachi (2nd Test, Pakistan won by 263 runs), becoming the first cricketer in history to score centuries in his first two Tests. Pakistan's top four batters (Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam) all scored centuries in the Karachi 2nd innings — only the second team in Test history to achieve four centuries from the top four in one innings. It was Sri Lanka's first Tests in Pakistan since the March 2009 terrorist attack on their team bus in Lahore, and Pakistan's first home Test victory in ten years. Azhar Ali captained Pakistan; Dimuth Karunaratne captained Sri Lanka.

Abid Ali: Centuries in His First Two Tests — A World First in Test History

Abid Ali scoring 109* on his Test debut at Rawalpindi (1st Test, drawn) and then 174 at Karachi (2nd Test, Pakistan won by 263 runs) — centuries in each of his first two Tests — gave the 2019 Pakistan-Sri Lanka bilateral its global statistical landmark: no male cricketer in Test history had previously scored a century in each of their first two Tests. Abid's debut 109* at Rawalpindi — not out as the Rawalpindi Test ended in a draw, his innings contribution building toward the first Test's drawn result — followed by his 174 at Karachi (contributing to the Pakistan top-four-centuries innings where all four Pakistan batters in the first four positions scored hundreds) gave Abid Ali's entry into Pakistan's Test batting a debut bilateral record that placed him alongside the most remarkable individual debuts in Test cricket's 140-year history. Abid also became the first male cricketer to score a century on both ODI and Test debut — his two debut-century records in the same career year (2019) in different formats of the game. The Shan Masood-Abid Ali first-wicket partnership of 278 at Karachi — the second-highest ever opening stand in Pakistan Test history — providing the batting foundation for the top-four-centuries innings that Pakistan declared from.

Sri Lanka's Return to Pakistan: First Tests Since the 2009 Lahore Bus Attack

Sri Lanka agreeing to tour Pakistan for Tests in December 2019 — their first Tests in Pakistan since the March 3, 2009 terrorist attack in Lahore when gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka team bus on the way to Gaddafi Stadium (killing eight people including six Pakistan police officers and a driver, injuring several Sri Lanka players) — gave the 2019 Pakistan bilateral its significance beyond cricket: an international Test team returning to play Test cricket on Pakistan soil for the first time in the decade since the attack that had ended all home international cricket in Pakistan for years. Pakistan had played their home Tests in the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) throughout the 2009-2019 period, unable to host international cricket in Pakistan while security concerns kept visiting nations away. Sri Lanka's decision to tour Pakistan in 2019 — publicly acknowledged by Pakistan as a gesture of solidarity and trust — preceded England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other Test nations subsequently returning to play in Pakistan across the 2021-2024 period, making Sri Lanka's 2019 tour the cricket-security diplomatic moment that reopened Pakistan as a home Test nation.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Tests December 2019 in Context

The Sri Lanka tour of Pakistan Tests December 2019 — Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium (1st Test drawn) and National Cricket Stadium Karachi (2nd Test Pakistan won by 263 runs) — produced Pakistan winning 1-0 with Abid Ali's debut bilateral centuries (first two Tests in history where a batter scored centuries in both), Sri Lanka's first Tests in Pakistan since the 2009 attack, Pakistan's first home Test win in a decade, and the four-top-four-centuries Karachi innings as the bilateral's cricket landmarks. The 2019 Pakistan-SL bilateral's legacy — Sri Lanka's agreement to tour was the catalyst that unlocked Pakistan's home Test programme for subsequent years: England's 2022 and 2024 tours, New Zealand's 2023 tour, Australia's 2022 historic tour (first in 24 years), and the broader ICC schedule that restored Pakistan's home cricket calendar — confirmed that Sri Lanka's 2019 decision was the tour that changed Pakistan cricket's home future.