Sri Lanka captain Mendis wins toss, sends a new-look Pakistan lineup in to bat in 1st cricket test - The Lethbridge Herald

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By Canadian Press on November 8, 2026.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis won the toss and elected to bowl first Monday in the first cricket test against a new-look Pakistan lineup containing four players on debut.

Arafat Minhas, a spinning allrounder and player of the recent triangular ODI series , fast bowler Saqib Khan and top-order batters Tayyab Arif and Mohammad Taha were all on debut for the hosts.

Last-place Pakistan has won only two of the nine matches in this World Test Championship cycle that included its chaotic 3-0 loss in England in the last series and a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka is ranked No. 7 in the WTC standings, winning just one of its six test matches while drawing three and losing two.

Mendis, who replaced Dhananjaya de Silva as test skipper in October, hoped his trio of fast bowlers will utilize the tinge of grass left on the wicket against an inexperienced Pakistan top-order as the tourists left out their front-line spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.

Sri Lanka has a recent happy memory at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where it achieved the second-highest successful run chase in ODI history — 430 against England in the tri-series last month.

Veteran Mohammad Abbas will lead Pakistan’s pace attack with express fast bowler Razaullah and Saqib. The home team also went without a specialist spinner.

Sri Lanka has been in Pakistan for more than a month, losing the T20 series 2-1 and the final of ODI tri-series to Pakistan.

Pakistan: Azan Awais, Tayyab Arif, Mohammad Taha, Babar Azam (captain), Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Ghazi Ghori, Arafat Minhas, Razaullah, Mohammad Abbas, Saqib Khan.

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (captain), Lahiru Udara, Pasindu Sooryabandara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sonal Dinusha, Milan Rathnayake, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka

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