Pak vs SL: Babar Azam-led squad departs to Sri Lanka to play Test series

LAHORE: The national cricket team left for Sri Lanka on Wednesday to play two Test matches starting July 16.

The squad will arrive in Colombo this evening at 6:00pm Pakistan time.

Pakistan will play a three-day warm-up match between 11-13 July. The first Test will be played at Galle from 16 July, while the second Test will be staged at Colombo from 24 July.

For Pakistan, who are on the fifth spot, this series is their final away commitment of the current ICC World Test Championship cycle, which stretches from July 2021 to June 2023, and they will be eager to improve their position on the table by repeating the same result as last time with a series win.

Pakistan have played three series in the current cycle and with wins in three Tests and two draws are ranked fifth in the nine-team table.

Babar Azam’s men levelled the two-Test series in the West Indies, and defeated Bangladesh 2-0 in their second away assignment before Australia edged out with a 1-0 victory in Pat Cummins’ side’s historic tour of the country.

In the upcoming 2022-23, Pakistan are set to host England and New Zealand for three and two Tests in a bumper home international season.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah