Pakistan closed the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at 281 for 5 in Rawalpindi on Monday, with three debutants and captain Babar Azam all contributing half-centuries as the hosts recovered from a rocky start to post a competitive total before bad light ended play roughly 15 minutes early.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first on a pitch with early grass cover, and the gamble looked to be paying off when opener Azan Awais fell for 30 after a brisk 86-run opening stand. But that was as good as it got for the visitors for much of the day. Debutant Tayyab Arif, the 20-year-old from Sialkot who had already raised eyebrows with an unbeaten fifty at lunch, eventually fell for 57 off just 51 balls — eight fours and a six — with the score on 90 for 2.
From there, Pakistan’s middle order took charge. Babar Azam made 50 off 58 deliveries before edging behind to give left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka his only wicket of the day, with the total on 159. According to Dawn, the dismissal stretches Babar’s wait for a Test century to 41 innings — his last three-figure score came against New Zealand in Karachi back in December 2022.
Another debutant, Mohammad Taha, then anchored the innings with a patient 51 off 105 balls, adding 68 with Saud Shakeel for the fourth wicket before he was caught behind off Sonal Dinusha at 227 for 4. Salman Ali Agha fell cheaply for 16, becoming the second wicket for Asitha Fernando, before Shakeel settled in alongside wicketkeeper-debutant Ghazi Ghori to see Pakistan through to stumps. Shakeel was unbeaten on 57 off 112 balls, with Ghori yet to be dismissed on 7, the pair adding an unbroken 28 for the sixth wicket.
| Batter | Runs | Balls | How Out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azan Awais | 30 | 50 | c Mendis b Rathnayaka |
| Tayyab Arif (debut) | 57 | 51 | c Mendis b Asitha Fernando |
| Babar Azam (c) | 50 | 58 | c Mendis b Madushanka |
| Mohammad Taha (debut) | 51 | 105 | c de Silva b Dinusha |
| Salman Ali Agha | 16 | 22 | c & b Asitha Fernando |
| Saud Shakeel | 57* | 112 | not out |
| Ghazi Ghori (debut, wk) | 7* | — | not out |
For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 64, while Milan Rathnayaka, who had been economical through the first session, picked up the key wicket of Awais. Dawn’s report noted that Sri Lanka fielded four pacers and no frontline spinner on a surface that, as the day wore on, offered the bowlers increasingly little — a call that may come back to haunt the tourists if Pakistan’s lower order can add further runs on day two.
The match is Pakistan’s first home Test since a heavy 3-0 series defeat in England, and the squad has been visibly overhauled as a result, with four uncapped players — Arif, Taha, Arafat Minhas and Saqib Khan — handed debuts. Speaking at a press conference in Rawalpindi on the eve of the Test, Babar Azam addressed the shake-up directly:
“I have been given 15 players. My job is to field them, get performances out of them and make them compete. The other things are not in my hands. Selection is their job,” Babar Azam said, adding of the influx of youth: “When young blood comes into a team it gives a different energy.”
In the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, Pakistan currently sit ninth and last, having been docked 19 points for slow over-rates, while Sri Lanka are seventh. Pakistan nonetheless lead the overall head-to-head 23-17 across 59 Tests between the two sides, with 19 draws. This is the first of a two-match series, with the second Test due to begin at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on November 17 — a follow-up to Arif’s fifty that had Pakistan purring at 137-2 at lunch and the build-up covered in our preview of Pakistan’s push for a Test revival ahead of the series.
Our Opinion
There is a tendency to read too much into a single good day, but this one genuinely mattered: a 3-0 whitewash in England leaves a dressing room needing visible proof that the rebuild has substance, and three debutant half-centuries plus a start from the captain is about as strong a first impression as a new-look batting line-up could have asked for; the more interesting test, though, is whether this is a one-off response to a friendly home pitch or the beginning of a genuine culture shift, and Babar Azam’s own form — still searching for a hundred 41 innings on — is a reminder that even a good day for the team does not automatically translate into one for its senior players.
