Pakistan begin their home ODI tri-series campaign against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sunday, October 18, opening a three-week, three-nation tournament that also features England and doubles as preparation for next year’s 50-over World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Shaheen Shah Afridi leads the hosts, who go into the series fresh off a 2-0 T20I series win over Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi earlier this month. According to The Express Tribune, nine players from that T20I squad have been retained for the 50-over assignment, with head coach Mike Hesson overseeing training sessions at Pindi Stadium through the week as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England all put in their final preparations.
“Our one-day side made some good progress in the last six months. We’ve got to continue that,” Hesson told reporters in Rawalpindi, The Express Tribune reported, adding that Sri Lanka’s momentum and England’s standing as the world’s top-ranked ODI side make for a tough opening assignment.
Fast bowler Naseem Shah, recalled to the ODI setup, reflected on his own growth ahead of the series. “You change a lot as a human being and as a cricketer as you get matured and you gain experience,” he said, according to the same report.
England’s squad, led by Harry Brook, touched down in Islamabad on Friday, October 16, where PCB officials received them before the team moved on to train at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, The Nation reported. England arrive in strong form, having won three straight bilateral ODI series — at home against Sri Lanka and India, and away against Sri Lanka — while Sri Lanka have lost three of their last four series overall.
Sri Lanka will be without regular opener Pathum Nissanka, who is still awaiting medical clearance for a left hamstring injury picked up on England’s recent tour of the island. Lahiru Udara comes in as his replacement; Udara struck 91 in the first T20I at Pindi on October 9 as Sri Lanka posted 182, a target Pakistan chased down with seven balls to spare en route to their series win.
| Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| October 18 | Pakistan vs Sri Lanka | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium |
| October 20 | Pakistan vs England | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium |
| October 22 | Sri Lanka vs England | Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium |
| October 25 | Pakistan vs England | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore |
| October 27 | Pakistan vs Sri Lanka | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore |
| October 29 | Sri Lanka vs England | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore |
| October 31 | Final (top two teams) | Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore |
The tournament runs on a double round-robin format, with the top two sides from the group stage advancing to the October 31 final in Lahore.
Pakistan’s squad includes Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Hasan Nawaz, Salman Ali Agha, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed and Shadab Khan alongside Afridi and Naseem Shah. Sri Lanka are led by wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis, while Brook’s England squad features Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Adil Rashid and Jamie Overton.
Our Opinion
A tri-series against a misfiring Sri Lanka and a red-hot England is a useful dry run for Pakistan, but it also exposes how unsettled the white-ball setup still is — carrying nine players straight over from a T20I squad into a 50-over series says as much about a shallow bench as it does about continuity, and a side that is serious about next year’s World Cup will eventually need its ODI unit to look less like an extension of the T20I one. A strong campaign here, especially against an England side that has barely put a foot wrong this year, would be a genuine marker of progress; a stumble at home against an injury-hit Sri Lankan line-up would be harder to explain away.
