PAK vs SL First ODI preview and probable playing Xl

Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a series of three one-day internationals, the first in the country for four years, with the first encounter on Friday, September 27 at the National Stadium in Karachi.

The Sri Lanka team was attacked in Lahore in 2009 and since then most of  international teams have refused to play in the South Asian country, leaving Pakistan to play nearly all their “home” games in the United Arab Emirates(UEA).

Zimbabwe was the first country to  visit Pakistan in 2015, with Pakistan hosting the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and a World XI team since then.

The current series was hit by withdrawals of ten top Sri Lankan players over security fears but Sri Lanka’s cricket board received the all-clear from the defence ministry last week.

Expected lineups

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (c), Avishka Fernando, Minod Bhanuka, Sadeera Samarawickrama (wk), Oshada Fernando, Dasun Shanaka, Angelo Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Kasun Rajitha

Pakistan: Imamul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed (c/wk), Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, and Usman Shinwari.