Sarfaraz Ahmed will be leading the ODI team for the first team on home soil when Pakistan take on Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Thursday, September 26, 2019.

The match will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi, a venue which hasn't hosted an ODI in more than ten years. The match will start at 3:00 PM PKT, 3:30 PM SLST, 10:00 AM GMT.

Live updates:

The match has been abandoned without a ball being bowled

The three-match series will be entirely played in Karachi and will wrap up on October 3.

Until the match starts, watch the highlights of previous ODI played between these two teams.

Live updates:

Rain has delayed the toss

PAK vs SL 1st ODI broadcast on PTV Sports, Sony Six

PTV Sports and Ten Sports will together provide television coverage of this series in Pakistan. SLRC (Channel Eye) is the official broadcaster of the series in Sri Lanka. Sony Six will telecast the match live in India. SonyLiv will provide online streaming of the matches via its app and the website in the Indian subcontinent.

Read: GTV live streaming Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe T20 Wednesday at RabbitholeBD

Pakistan seek the beginning of a new era

Pakistan will be playing their first match under the new coach, Misbah-ul-Haq.

The team will be without their two leading pacers, Shaheen Afridi, who is out with dengue and Hasan Ali, who is injured as well. Mohammad Nawaz and Mohammad Rizwan, who was called into the squad for this series, might be slotted right back into the side. Apart from this, we can't expect too many changes to the combination which appeared in their last World Cup match in July.

Mohammad Hafeez has been dropped from the squad as well while Shoaib Malik has retired.

Under-pressure Sri Lanka face a tough challenge

With 10 key players not available for this tour, stand-in captain Lahiru Thirimanne will have a tough time choosing the first XI. Players like Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Aviskha Fernando, Dasun Shanaka will have to play a key role if Sri Lanka aspires to win this series. The only uncapped player in the side is Minod Bhanuka, but he might not get an opportunity straight away.

Interestingly, the last ODI played on this ground was also between these two teams way back in 2009. Sri Lanka were the victors on the occasion. Considering the past records of this ground, the pitch is good for batting but there is often something for the bowlers as well. We can expect a good match of Cricket with a balance between the ball and the bat.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED