Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first against Pakistan in the opening match of their two-Test series at the Pindi Stadium in Rawalpindi on Monday, with Kusal Mendis leading the side in a Test for the first time.

It is the first Test series between the two countries in seven years, and it forms part of the current World Test Championship cycle, Hiru News reported. Play began at 10am Sri Lanka time.

Mendis backs the quicks

Under bright sunshine, Mendis said there was enough grass on the pitch to suggest the faster bowlers could make early inroads.

“It looks like a fast-bowling wicket and the first session will be very important,” he said, according to the Island.

Sri Lanka backed that reading by leaving out specialist spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and picking four fast bowlers — Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka and Milan Rathnayaka. Spin duties fall to Sonal Dinusha, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis.

Four Pakistan debutants

Pakistan fielded a new-look side for the second Test in succession, handing debuts to four players: batters Tayyab Arif and Mohammad Taha, spin-bowling all-rounder Arafat Minhas and fast bowler Saqib Khan.

Captain Babar Azam accepted the first morning would be difficult for his batters.

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

Sri Lanka XI: Kusal Mendis (capt), Lahiru Udara (wk), Passindu Sooriyabandara, Dinesh Chandimal, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sonal Dinusha, Milan Rathnayaka, Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka.

What is at stake

Both sides come into the series near the foot of the World Test Championship table. Pakistan are bottom of the current standings; Sri Lanka are seventh.

Mendis took over the Test captaincy after Dhananjaya de Silva stepped down in October, giving Sri Lanka a single captain across all three formats.

Not yet reported

At the time of writing, no verified newsroom reachable from this desk had published a close-of-play scorecard for the opening day. Figures circulating in search results could not be matched to a datable report from a verified outlet, and are therefore not reproduced here. The first Test runs to 13 November.