Sri Lanka welcome back skipper Kusal Mendis for the T20I leg of the full tour of Pakistan. Mendis missed the recent tour of England due to a hamstring injury but is now back to take back the captaincy reigns from Charith Asalanka who stood in for him in England. Mendis is one of six changes that Sri Lanka made to the squad that went to England, where they suffered a 3-0 T20I series defeat.
Sri Lanka T20I Squad: Kamil Mishara, Sineth Jayawardena, Kusal Mendis (captain), Lahiru Udara, Sahan Arachchige, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera*
Sri Lanka will be without opener Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga due to injuries. Hasaranga suffered lower-back pain during a practice session ahead of the first ODI against England last month and returned home. He has now been ruled out of the T20Is against Pakistan. Pavan Rathnayake has also been left out, after he’d come in as Mendis’s replacement in England.
The same kind of swap was done for Binura Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka. A back injury had ruled out Fernando from the England T20Is, with Madushanka called-up as his replacement. Sri Lanka also brought back Chamindu Wickramasinghe, who made his T20I debut against India in 2024 but has just three caps to his name so far. His last outing came in early 2025 in New Zealand.
Middle-order batter Sahan Arachchige has also been picked on the back of a strong LPL season where scored 240 runs at an average of 34.27 and a strike rate of 147.23. Arachchige’s two T20I outings so far have come in two different editions of the Asian Games – against Afghanistan in 2023 and India in 2026.
Sri Lanka also rewarded 21-year-old top-order batter Sineth Jayawardena with a T20I call-up even before he has featured in LPL. Jayawardena however, scored back-to-back centuries in List A and T20 format in the domestic circuit last month. Spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, has also been roped in while fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera meanwhile, makes it with an asterisk to his name. His availability will be subject to fitness.
The three T20Is will be played in Rawalpindi on October 9, 11 and 13.
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