Since the last ODI World Cup, Pakistan have played ten ODI series (one tri-nation series and nine bilateral series) and have won six of those. These victories include winning twice each against South Africa and Australia, both home and away, and once each against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. But despite how pretty a picture this stat paints, Pakistan aren’t really an invincible ODI side, far from it, in fact.
The main evidence for this is their form in multi-nation competitions. Pakistan’s last appearances in ICC or ACC ODI finals came at the 2017 Champions Trophy. They had an early elimination from both the 2023 and 2019 ODI World Cups and the 2025 Champions Trophy, and with the upcoming World Cup only set to be more cut-throat, Pakistan might see similar patterns repeating.
They will face Sri Lanka in the opening tri-series game, and the only solace this brings is that the visitors might be worse than them in the format. Sri Lanka did not play the Champions Trophy last year, having failed to qualify based on their performance at the 2023 ODI World Cup. Since the last World Cup, Sri Lanka have only won one away bilateral series (minimum two matches), which came against Zimbabwe.
In fact, they had a 3-0 whitewash the last time they played Pakistan in ODIs last year.
The two teams come off their own set of problems, regardless of the match results. A better bilateral win record doesn’t free Pakistan of the issues and questions that are nagging them as they begin World Cup preparations. Similarly, for Sri Lanka, a better win-to-loss ratio than Pakistan since the previous World Cup does not mean all of their quandaries have disappeared overnight.
Team Overview
Pakistan have big boys returning to the team after a relatively inexperienced side won the T20I leg of the series. Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Ali Agha and Haris Rauf are among the seniors who have joined the side. Pakistan can have Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman open the innings, with Babar Azam coming in at the first drop. On paper, this combination seems decent enough to give Pakistan good starts, but the fact that all three are somewhat fighting with their own form struggles might be a killjoy.
The real question for Pakistan would be who keeps the wickets? Mohammad Rizwan, their regular wicketkeeper across formats for the past few years, isn’t part of the squad, with Pakistan likely moving away from him. Saad Baig and Ghazi Ghori are the two options that Pakistan have for this series. While Saad is still uncapped in ODIs, Ghori has kept wickets for Pakistan in three out of the four one-day games he has played so far. The host team might look to test both options regardless of that.
Pathum Nissanka was ruled out of the tri-series after he failed to recover from his hamstring injury. This could mean that Kusal Mendis will have to rely on Lahiru Udara and Avishka Fernando to open the innings, while taking the third spot himself. Kamindu Mendis can then come in at No. 4, where he has decent experience of batting in ODIs.
Weather and pitch report
Weather is very likely to remain pleasant throughout the game, with dew expected to have an impact later in the game. The surface shouldn’t sway much from how it was during the T20I leg, with batters probably getting more assistance.
Where to Watch
- Pakistan: PTV Sports, Tapmad, Tamasha and PCB Live.
- UAE and Middle East: Cricbuzz (TV and digital).
- Sri Lanka: Dialog, PEO TV and Siyatha TV.
- UK and Ireland: Sky Sports and NOW.
- Bangladesh: T Sports and Tapmad.
- Australia: Fox Sports (TV and digital).
- North America: Willow TV (TV and digital).
- Caribbean and Europe: PCB Live.
- Africa: PCB Live.
- Other regions: Sports Central / Sports TV, depending on the region.
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