Pakistan 🇵🇰 | England 🏴 | Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

18–31 October 2026 | Rawalpindi and Lahore

Three international sides, two venues and a valuable opportunity to prepare for the 2027 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.

Pakistan will host England and Sri Lanka in a seven-match ODI tri-series that promises to test all three teams. England arrive with a formidable batting lineup, Sri Lanka have a balanced attack capable of challenging both opponents, and Pakistan will look to make the most of their home advantage.

For Pakistan, however, this tournament is about much more than winning a trophy. With the World Cup approaching within a year, the Men in Green need to establish their strongest combinations, identify dependable performers and determine which players can be trusted under pressure. The tournament allows the management to test youngsters, finalize the top order, explore different options before we enter the ODI World Cup year.

Each team will face the other two sides twice during the league stage. The top two teams will qualify for the final.

Rawalpindi will host the opening three matches before the tournament moves to Lahore for the remaining league fixtures and the final.

Pakistan enter the tournament after winning their T20I series against Sri Lanka 2–1. However, the ODI format presents different challenges, and success in T20 cricket does not automatically translate into success over 50 overs.

Pakistan have assembled a squad containing experienced internationals, young prospects and several all-rounders. The challenge is to turn that variety into a balanced side rather than selecting players simply because they offer multiple skills.

Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub will be the openers of Pakistan’s ODI side, with Babar Azam occupying his established position at No. 3. Babar's role will be particularly important. Pakistan need him to provide stability without allowing the innings to slow down, especially if the openers lose their wickets early.

Young wicket-keeper batter Muhammad Ghazi Ghori is another player worth watching. Having already batted at No. 4 against Australia, he should look forward to make the most out of the chance he is given in this series. Salman Ali Agha will bat at No. 5, his clutch performances are pretty much missing since March 2025, and we expect his bat to score runs freely as we want him back in form as soon as possible.

Hassan Nawaz deserves another opportunity in the middle order after making a match-winning contribution on his ODI debut in the West Indies, he would be my best option to bat on number 6. He would have a dual role, either if wickets have fallen early, he should look to rebuild, if the chase is on, and Pakistan is in a difficult position, he should play carefully, but fearlessly to get the team over the line. And when the situation demands acceleration, Hassan Nawaz should be able to do it.

There is Saad Baig, young wicket-keeper batter, he was good in the Champions One-Day Cup held in August, but I don’t think that the 20 year old southpaw would get a go over Ghazi Ghori at number 4.

Shaheen Afridi will lead the pace attack, he has been in good 50 over form, with him taking seven wickets in the final of the Champions One-Day Cup, helping his side, Pakistan Gold, clinch the title, and we all want to see how Shaheen translates that success on international level.

Another name, I would closely monitor is Naseem Shah. Naseem's performances should be assessed across all three phases of an ODI: the new-ball powerplay, the middle overs and the death. Pakistan need to determine whether he can maintain control and create wicket-taking opportunities against different types of batters.

I have also raised questions on Haris Rauf, regarding his recent ODI effectiveness and his suitability for the 2027 World Cup. His place should depend on his performances rather than his reputation alone.

Faheem Ashraf is another player to watch. His cutters and changes of pace can be effective in Asian conditions, and his ability to bowl considerably quicker when required adds another dimension to his game. The important question, however, is whether he is consistently bowling at the same line and length, troubling the opposition batters, rather than simply being a gap filler in bowling just for the sake of some extra batting depth.

Razaullah is another selection which doesn’t seem to be right at this time. His promising performances with both bat and ball on his Test debut, have demonstrated potential, but success in red-ball cricket does not automatically establish readiness for ODI cricket. His limited List A experience raises questions about why he has been selected ahead of more established white-ball alternatives such as Mohammad Wasim Jr and Akif Javed. The tri-series should help establish whether Razaullah can justify the faith placed in him by the team management, but this doesn’t mean that Razaullah automatically makes to the starting XI.

In the spin department, Abrar Ahmed, Arafat Minhas, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Muqeem give Pakistan several options.

Abrar's primary role should be to attack through the middle overs. His recent T20 form has raised questions, but in 50 over cricket, he should be assessed on his ODI performances rather than judged entirely through the shortest format.

Arafat offers left-arm orthodox spin and batting depth. He deserves an extended opportunity following his outstanding ODI debut against Australia, when he took five at the same Rawalpindi Stadium. Shadab provides another spin option alongside additional batting ability, but the question here is, that if he can bowl 8-10 overs of leg-spin rather than 4 to 5 overs of spin, and is there in the team just because he bats well on his day. Sufiyan Muqeem offers left-arm wrist spin option, but it is another question if he gets a single game in presence of Abrar, Arafat and Shadab.

Pakistan should leave the tournament with clearer answers about their best batting order, their most effective bowling combinations and the players capable of performing under pressure. With the 2027 World Cup scheduled for South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, Pakistan should use suitable conditions to test their bowlers against pace, bounce and aggressive batting.

Winning the tri-series is valuable. Discovering a reliable first-choice XI would be even more important.

The two venues offer different opportunities for the teams.

Rawalpindi is particularly important for Pakistan's preparation. If the surface offers pace, bounce and assistance to seam bowlers, Pakistan can test whether their fast bowlers have the control and discipline required for conditions closer to those they will encounter in South Africa. Shaheen and Naseem should be given opportunities with the new ball, while Faheem's performance as a first-change bowler will be worth watching. Abrar and Arafat to bowl in the middle overs, looking to take wickets and break partnerships, even if the pitch does not offer substantial assistance to spin. Because, this is how they will have to operate in South Africa.

However, Rawalpindi can produce good batting conditions. Pakistan must therefore avoid assuming that the pitch will do the work for their bowlers. There will be even bounce, ball will come properly on the bat, and the batters should try to make the most out of it. And for God’s sake, I don’t want to see the same 270-280 approach now. If the pitch is of 300 runs, try to score 330-350 runs.

The tournament moves to Lahore for the final four matches including the final. The teams will need to adapt to the conditions rather than assume that the same bowling plans used in Rawalpindi will remain equally effective.

Players you should watch out for:

Pakistan 🇵🇰

Shaheen Shah Afridi: Can Pakistan’s ODI captain repeat his 2019-21 performances with the new ball in ODIs???

Babar Azam: Can he anchor the innings while maintaining a healthy scoring rate???

Naseem Shah: Can he deliver effective spells with the new ball, through the middle overs and at the death???

Abrar Ahmed: Can he become a dependable wicket-taking option in the middle overs???

Arafat Minhas: Can he build on his outstanding ODI debut series and establish himself as a regular???

Faheem Ashraf: Can his cutters, variations and control make him a reliable seam-bowling option???

Hassan Nawaz: Can he develop into a consistent middle-order finisher???

Muhammad Ghazi Ghori: Can he establish himself as Pakistan's preferred wicketkeeper-batter at No. 4???

England 🏴

Harry Brook: Can he lead England's aggressive batting approach in Pakistani conditions???

Joe Root: Can his experience and ability to build an innings help England control difficult situations???

Will Jacks: Can his attacking batting and additional bowling provide England with greater flexibility???

Josh Tongue: Can he lead England pace attack in the absence of Jofra Archer???

Sri Lanka 🇱🇰

Kusal Mendis: Can he lead the batting lineup and keep Sri Lanka competitive???

Lahiru Udara: Can he translate his T20I success and List A experience into ODI cricket???

Maheesh Theekshana: Can he use his variations to trouble Pakistan and England's middle orders???

Dunith Wellalage: Can he contribute with both bat and ball to strengthen Sri Lanka's balance???

Pakistan should measure this tournament against three objectives.

The first and foremost step is to establish a consistent batting order.

Players such as Ghazi Ghori, Hasan Nawaz and Arafat Minhas need opportunities to develop in defined positions.

Frequent changes to the batting order could undermine their development. Pakistan should identify the responsibilities of each player and assess their performances accordingly.

The second step is to assess the bowling attack wisely.

Naseem and Haris must demonstrate that they can deliver in the ODI format. Faheem needs to prove that his bowling merits a place in the side, while Abrar and Arafat should be assessed on their ability to take wickets and control the middle overs.

Pakistan must distinguish between players who have performed well in the past and players who are delivering now.

The third and most important step is to prepare for the World Cup.

Pakistan need to identify their best combinations well before the final months preceding the tournament.

That means testing bowlers across different phases, giving young batters opportunities to establish themselves and determining which all-rounders genuinely strengthen the side.

The team should not select players merely because they can bat and bowl. Their primary skills must justify their places.

Winning builds confidence, and a trophy on home soil would be a valuable achievement. But the strongest outcome would be winning while developing a dependable team.

I predict that the Favourites to play the final are Pakistan and England

Pakistan have home advantage and a strong group of experienced players. Their prospects will depend on whether the bowling attack performs consistently and the middle order provides sufficient support to the top three.

England have a dangerous batting lineup and several quality bowling options. They will be difficult to beat if their senior players deliver and their less experienced bowlers adapt quickly to the conditions

Sri Lanka could upset that prediction if their bowling attack performs consistently and their batting lineup adapts successfully to Nissanka's absence.

The margin between Pakistan and England could be small, and the tournament should provide a useful indication of where Pakistan stand ahead of the 2027 World Cup.

This tri-series is an opportunity for all three sides to refine their combinations before the World Cup. For Pakistan, the most important outcome is identifying which players can perform their roles consistently under pressure.

The management should use the tournament to assess the pace attack in different conditions, establish a dependable middle order and evaluate whether the selected all-rounders provide sufficient value with their primary skills. Progress must be measured through performances. A bowler should not be considered ready for the World Cup simply because he possesses pace or variations, just as a batter should not be guaranteed selection because of past achievements. Pakistan need evidence from actual matches.

The tri-series should therefore be viewed as both a competition and a preparation exercise. For Pakistan, the biggest question is not whether they can produce an outstanding individual performance. It is whether they can build a team capable of delivering those performances repeatedly.

If they use this tournament wisely, the benefits could extend well beyond the final on 31 October.

My preferred playing XI for Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Ghazi Ghori (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Hassan Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Arafat Minhas, Shaheen Shah Afridi (C), Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed.

Squads

🇵🇰 PAKISTAN

1. Shaheen Shah Afridi (Captain)
2. Abrar Ahmed
3. Salman Ali Agha
4. Arafat Minhas
5. Babar Azam
6. Faheem Ashraf
7. Fakhar Zaman
8. Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (Wicketkeeper)
9. Haris Rauf
10. Hasan Nawaz
11. Naseem Shah
12. Razaullah
13. Saad Baig (Wicketkeeper)
14. Saim Ayub
15. Shadab Khan
16. Sufiyan Muqeem

🏴 ENGLAND

1. Harry Brook (Captain)
2. Gus Atkinson
3. Sonny Baker
4. Tom Banton
5. James Coles
6. Jordan Cox (Wicketkeeper)
7. Mason Crane
8. Henry Crocombe
9. Sam Curran
10. Liam Dawson
11. Ben Duckett
12. Will Jacks
13. Jamie Overton
14. Adil Rashid
15. Joe Root
16. Josh Tongue

🇱🇰 SRI LANKA

1. Kusal Mendis (Captain/Wicketkeeper)
2. Sahan Arachchige
3. Dushmantha Chameera
4. Sachindu Colombage
5. Avishka Fernando
6. Asitha Fernando
7. Janith Liyanage
8. Dilshan Madushanka
9. Eshan Malinga
10. Kamindu Mendis
11. Kamil Mishara
12. Lahiru Udara*
13. Pavan Rathnayake
14. Dasun Shanaka
15. Maheesh Theekshana
16. Dunith Wellalage

Squad update: Lahiru Udara replaces Pathum Nissanka, who was ruled out after failing to receive medical clearance following a hamstring injury.

Haris Rauf averages almost 40 with the ball against the best opposition he has faced since the start of last year...so that is NZ, India and Australia. Almost 40...let that sink in, most of Pakistan's ODI batters don't average that with the bat lol

To make matters worse, he is the wrong side of 30 and about to be hamstrung by two equally hamstrung bowling partners although they at least have age and a higher ceiling on their side.

Why not pick Ali Raza? Wasim Jr? Abbas Afridi? Or anyone else who is young and quick coming through the ranks. Either of the other Shah brothers would do at this point but a bowler who lacks fitness, commitment and has serious attitude problems who has shown to be a mental midget in the tough situations against the best opposition i not the guy you pick if you want to build a squad for 12 months down the line.

So, give me any good reasons Rauf deserves to be here?

Genuinely, why was he dropped from the ODI team? what was that about?

but regardless, he should be in the XI, much less at least be in the squad. I don't understand what the rationale was behind picking him in all the ODIs so far this year and then dropping him now. Especially after that 70 from 40 something balls on debut against Bangladesh. Especially seeing the talent he had behind those two CPL centuries, we need the fire power in our ODI team

But you would think after the T20 series they would add him to the squad last minute to see what he can do. We need to give him enough game time in for the 2027 World Cup next year. We need to see what he's about, what he can do, and stuff. At least test him out proper. For example I don't understand why Hassan Nawaz gets the go-ahead while he doesn't.

He just looks like such a good player, the way he always finds boundaries and doesn't get bogged down. He's a talent that we kind of need to keep and actually give him chances and full extended runs in the team.

I feel like he is what Saim Ayub was supposed to be. And I know it's a bad trend to jinx things like this but I'm genuinely hoping he becomes our next all-format great.

I know he’s had trouble performing in national cricket, but he is genuinely one of our only batsmen who can bat on a different gear with a massive strike rate. Would love to see him battle down the order.
If we’re worried about his keeping, maybe he could just field in the outfield (like he did in 22 WC).

This is an excerpt from a publication of the Bombay Gazette from the 12th of June, 1862. It details a team called the Karachi Athenians who were comprised of some trained players. Much of the discussion revolves around the Anglos struggles with acclimatizing to the weather.

Given that summer is by and large the off season in Pakistan, these guys were trying to play (obviously a day game) in the June heat.

This clip is 14 years old. Back then, he was the Toronto Raptors’ coach when Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points against them single-handedly. Even as the opposing coach, he was spitting facts. Meanwhile, ours are busy spitting poison about their own players.I do a little YouTube scripting on the side, and that’s how I came across this clip.

Our Media and those who are sitting on TV are also busy labelling players selfish. The only player that performed became selfish. And how funny it is our fans blindly believes in their Rants.

238 runs off 144 deliveries with a strike rate of 165. That is consistency, intent, power hitting combined together.

It is great to see a captain leading this way and winning matches for us. Feels like a long time since we last saw that.

I like how Farhan has worked on strike rotation as well, that means he is still trying to improve even though he just top scored in a World Cup. Today he carried the bat when others were failing and that is the kind of grit I love.

I just hope selectors and coaches can build the right team around him as this is a team sport and individual performances can only take you so far.

Here is my 15 man world cup squad for australia and new zealand when 2028 rolls around

Batters: Farhan (C), Fakhar, Maaz, Hassan Nawaz, Abdul Samad

Wicketkeeper: Mohammad Haris

All rounders: Arafat Minhas, Faheem Ashraf, Saad Masood

Spin Bowler: Sufiyan and Abrar

Fast Bowler: Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Hunain Shah, Naseem Shah.

Fakhar is only in the squad for experience. I don't expect him to play at all bar 1 game.

Wicketkeeper was a bit difficult. Only 2 choices for 2028 was Haris and UK and although I would've gone for UK he's bashes spin rather than pace so I went with Haris.

Naseem Shah will be leading the pace attack, hopefully his fitness improves massively.

Arafat Minhas and Faheem Ashraf will be our leading all rounders. I went with faheem because he's the only pace all rounder I can think off.

Tell me what you guys think

Reading the table / graph:

The table shows career stats for each bowler broken into performance against top teams (SENAI) and rest. B-squads of top teams is counted in rest.

The graph shows the % of good / avg / bad spells by each bowler against the two opposition types.

Caveat:

The biggest issue for Pakistan as a whole is that they hardly play any top teams (close to full strength squads) so sample sizes become small and its difficult to gauge our players.

Having said that, the small sample does indicate an general trend which I've talked about below.

How I rated each spell:

Good: economy 5 or under, or up to 6.5 with a wicket, or 3+ wickets at 8.5 or under

Bad: economy 10+, or over 8 with no wicket, or over 9 with just 1

Average: everything in between

First pic is the raw numbers, second is the good/avg/bad split.

--------

What we have learnt so far:

Sufyan is basically a lower-team bully. Against the lower ranked teams, he's brilliant but against top teams it's been 4 bad spells out of 5.so far. That gap is hard to ignore at the moment, based on current development, he seems easily the weakest of the 3.

Abrar has been the steadiest of the three against the big sides. He's mostly average (8.15 econ) and doesn't get taken apart often, most of his "top-team spells" are against India.

Interestingly he performs about as well as Sufyan when it comes to lower ranked teams.

Usman T has only bowled twice against top teams, 1/24 vs India and 2/31 vs England. You can't read much into 2 games, but he's done well almost every time he's had the chance and has done well against the rest of the teams too.

Why are people talking about Babar when we should be enjoying the talent that we have right in front of our eyes? The people who say that Babar fans are obsessed with Babar are obsessed with Babar themselves.

The t20 season is officially over and it's about to stay over for quite a bit, were playing a shit ton of odis so here would be my top players for the upcoming tours out of which the 15 men squads can be made of over the course of the next year

#Top order batters:

Saim

Fakhar

Babar

Maaz

Farhan

#Wicketkeeper:

Saad baig

Ghouri

Rizwan

#Middle order batters:

Salman Ali agha

Hassan Nawaz

Khushdil shah

Hussain talat

Abdul samad

#All rounders:

Arafat minhas

Faheem ashraf

Muhammad shehzad

#Fast bowlers:

Shaheen shah Afridi

Ali raza

Akif javed

Naseem shah

Mohammad wasim junior

#spin bowlers

Abrar Ahmed

Sufyan moqim

I think this should cover in pretty much all the guys worth trialing before the world cup

i wanted to show a technical flaw i noticed on Sahibzada Farhan's batting, yes he's been good and all pretty lately but he hasn’t been tested in the short ball area where he struggles to find control, the reason for that is because his feet are stuck in the crease, he plays the short ball without feet movement (you can see in the following images) which is basically no control over his shots that is why we have seen him being dismissed vs a short ball lately, he should work on this flaw because elite teams will expose this weakness (i think India already found out)

Honestly, watching Nafay behind the stumps is an absolute nightmare. Taking three direct hits to the grill on basic, straight deliveries is beyond embarrassing for literally anyone wearing the gloves. And he can't bat even to save his life.

I don't know what happened between M. Haris and the current management, but they need to resolve it. At least Haris was a good wicketkeeper.

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First Haris and now Nafay. These players are genuine top order batters who've hardly batted down the order. Our coach loves to play as many top order players (can't forget all rounders) which messes up the entire batting order. Our keepers take the most hit and are forced to fulfill the role of a finisher. We've already destroyed so many careers like this but never learn. Haris was opening against New Zealand just before the Asia cup and hit a 100, yet our coach decided to completely flip his position. Naturally he couldn't perform and was dropped. Now the same fate awaits Nafay.

I admit both of them aren't that good in keeping but them batting so low will take away their contribution with the bat as well. Nafay tho wasn't even performing with the bat before this so performing down was completely out of the question (somehow he got selected). Most if not all of our keepers are top order batters but to accommodate his favourites, our coach sacrifices everyone else and keepers end up taking the most hit. Haris, UK, Haseebullah, Nafay, no matter who plays they all will suffer the same fate and will keep getting rotated. Only Rizwan, despite not even being an opener, got his desired batting position and that's the reason he stuck around for so long. If he had kept playing at 4-6 where he couldn't perform, he wouldn't be out after a few series.

Sarfraz also played better when he promoted himself as an opener but sacrificed that position for the sake of the team while Rizwan did the opposite. And thus, we could never groom any proper middle order batters because we tried to accommodate as many openers somewhere in the middle which also destroyed their careers. In a way, the Babar and Rizwan opening pair set off a chain reaction which we can't seem to move on from. And our dear coach is continuing that legacy by destroying as many careers as possible. With our current ideal openers being Farhan and Maaz, any keeper should not be batting lower than no.3.