After a gap of 10 years, Pakistani cricketers can finally wear white jerseys on their home soil as Test cricket is returning to the nation.
SriLanka have arrived, and they will be looking forward to the series as it is a part of the World Test Championship (WTC), and they are at the 4th spot with 120 points.
📸 Sri Lanka Test Squad led by Dimuth Karunaratne arrives in Islamabad to take part in a two match Test series. #PAKvSL pic.twitter.com/2uD0hio6Lt
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) December 9, 2019
The hosts, on the other hand, will be boosted upon the arrival of Test cricket in their country, and they would also want to uplift the team’s as well as fans morale who are down and out with the clean sweep in Australia.
The opener of the two-match series will take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The pitch will be a typical sub-continent wicket with an opportunity for batsmen to score the runs in the first half of the match and spinners to play their part in the second half.
Pakistan have recalled top-order batsman Fawad Alam, who has been in blistering form in the domestic circuit. Apart from Test cricket, Alam is also returning to the national side after a span of 10 years.
Usman Shinwari has been included in the squad while Iftikhar Ahmed and Musa Khan are dropped from the side.
The visitors will have to play without their pacer Suranga Lakmal as the right-hander has been ruled out due to dengue. Young Asitha Fernando has replaced Lakmal. However, he will join the team only for the second Test as he is currently in Nepal as part of Sri Lanka’s squad for the South Asian Games.
Since Test cricket is returning to Pakistan after ten years, Bandula Warnapura and Javed Miandad, who captained Sri Lanka and Pakistan in their first-ever Test, have been invited as special guests.
In a show of gratitude, respect & appreciation for their services to cricket, the Pakistan Cricket Board has invited Sri Lanka’s Bandula Warnapura and Javed Miandad of Pakistan as special guests for the historic Rawalpindi Test, which will be played from 11-15th December. pic.twitter.com/tq03Y57V4W
— PTV Sports (@PTVSp0rts) December 8, 2019
Head to Head
Matches: 53
Pakistan Won: 19
Sri Lanka Won: 16
Draw: 18
Match Timings: 10:00 AM local time (5:00 AM GMT)
Venue: Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi
Alam is making a comeback in the squad, so it’s expected that he will feature in the playing XI. Yasir Shah could be the only spinner in the company of four pacers.
Lankans, on the other hand, looks settled. Lakmal’s exclusion might hurt them, but they do have proper backups.
Probable XI (Pakistan): Imam-ul-Haq, Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali (c), Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah.
Probable XI (Sri Lanka): Dimuth Karunaratne (c), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Dilruwan Perera, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Kasun Rajitha.
Live streaming and broadcast details
The live telecast of the two-match series will run on PTV Sports. Viewers can access the broadcast in India at Sony Six and Sony Six HD. The match will also be live-streamed digitally on Sony Liv.
