Pakistan’s cricket board is preparing fast, bowler-friendly pitches for both home Tests against Sri Lanka as the team looks to arrest one of its worst runs in the format, with the first Test starting Monday, November 9, at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. According to The Express Tribune, citing sources familiar with team planning, head coach Mike Hesson has directed ground staff at both venues to prepare surfaces offering more help to fast bowlers — a deliberate shift after a bruising year with the bat and ball.
The numbers explain the urgency. Pakistan have lost six of the seven Tests they played in 2026, including a 3-0 whitewash in England this past summer, according to the Tribune. In the ongoing World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, the side sits last of nine teams with just two wins from nine matches, while Sri Lanka are seventh with one win from six, per the same WTC table reported by the Tribune on November 3.
| Pakistan | Sri Lanka | |
|---|---|---|
| Test captain | Babar Azam | Kusal Mendis |
| WTC 2025-27 standing | 9th of 9 (2 wins, 7 losses) | 7th of 9 (1 win, 2 losses) |
| 2026 Test record | 1 win, 6 losses in 7 matches | — |
| Key change | Shan Masood, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq left out | Pathum Nissanka ruled out (hamstring), replaced by Lahiru Udara |
The two sides meet first in Rawalpindi from November 9-13, then move to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore for the second Test from November 17-21.
A Reshuffled Batting Line-up
Babar Azam, reinstated as Test captain in July after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) removed Shan Masood from the role, leads a squad reshaped around uncapped domestic run-scorers. As PakDaily reported when the 14-man squad was announced, Masood, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique were all left out, with maiden Test call-ups going to Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Suleman and Sameer Minhas on the back of strong performances in this season’s President’s Trophy.
The Tribune’s sources add that two more established names — opening batter Saim Ayub and seamer Mohammad Imran — are also no longer part of the team’s plans, alongside spin pair Sajid Khan and Noman Ali and pacers Aamir Jamal and Khurram Shahzad, who missed the original squad announcement. With Shafique and Masood both out, Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal are understood to be the leading contenders to open the innings, according to the Tribune.
- Left out or dropped: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Imran, Sajid Khan, Noman Ali, Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad
- Maiden Test call-ups: Mohammad Taha (730 runs, 3 centuries this President’s Trophy season), Mohammad Suleman (652 runs, 3 centuries), Sameer Minhas (405 runs in his first full first-class season)
- Leading contenders to open the batting: Azan Awais, Abdullah Fazal
Pakistan’s preparations have also included a mandated return to domestic cricket for senior players. Babar Azam played his first first-class match since 2019 for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in the President’s Trophy in September, at the PCB’s request, but struggled for rhythm — he managed just 16 runs across two innings on his comeback, then was out lbw for 21 against the State Bank of Pakistan on September 30, according to NewsX. He has not scored a Test century since 2022.
Final Trial, and a Sri Lankan Injury Blow
Pakistan’s squad is not yet finalised. A three-day warm-up match between a PCB Patron’s XI, captained by Saad Baig, and the touring Sri Lankans concludes Friday at Islamabad Club, and two fast bowlers from the Patron’s XI’s pace pool — Mohammad Salman, Shoaib Akhtar Jnr, Ali Shabbir, Saqib Khan and Ubaid Shah are all in contention — are expected to be added to the Test squad once it ends.
“There is time in red-ball cricket, and players need to adjust themselves quickly to its demands,” said Saad Baig, the Patron’s XI captain, ahead of the warm-up fixture.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be without first-choice opener Pathum Nissanka. The Sri Lanka Cricket board confirmed on October 27 that Nissanka, who had already missed the preceding T20I and ODI tri-series in Pakistan, would sit out the Tests too because of a left hamstring injury that has not fully healed — a decision reported by both ICC Cricket and ANI. He has been replaced by Lahiru Udara, who scored a career-best 188 against the West Indies earlier this year and was already in Pakistan with the one-day squad. Sri Lanka’s Test squad is led by Kusal Mendis, who was named captain in October.
Our Opinion
Ordering up fast, bouncy pitches at home is an understandable gamble for a side that has been bowled out cheaply and beaten up abroad all year, but it cuts both ways; if Pakistan’s own inexperienced new-ball attack and three uncapped batters cannot cope with the extra bounce and seam either, this series could easily finish the way the last several have, and while the selectors deserve credit for finally backing domestic run-scorers over out-of-form seniors, finalising two bowling slots via a warm-up match just days before the Test begins suggests a team management still reacting to each crisis rather than planning several steps ahead.
