Pathum Nissanka has been ruled out of Sri Lanka's two-Test series in Pakistan, with Lahiru Udara now confirmed as his replacement ahead of the first Test starting November 9 in Rawalpindi. Separately, the Pakistan Cricket Board has named its own 14-player Test squad, led by Babar Azam, with three batters earning maiden Test call-ups.
Nissanka's fitness has been a running concern through Sri Lanka's entire trip to Pakistan. He was ruled out of the T20I leg in October with a right leg strain, then named in the Test squad only on a fitness-pending basis. That conditional selection has now resolved the wrong way for Sri Lanka: he has failed to recover in time, and Udara — already part of the squad for this tour's ODI tri-series — steps up to the Test group as his direct replacement for the series opener.
Pakistan's squad announcement carries its own storyline. Babar Azam was dropped from the T20I captaincy and squad entirely in October, with Sahibzada Farhan taking over that format. For this Test series, though, Babar retains the leadership role he has held in the longer format, giving him a different route back to the front of Pakistan's cricket after last month's white-ball setback.
Pakistan's 14-man group hands maiden Test call-ups to batters Sameer Minhas, Mohammad Taha and Mohammad Suleman, alongside established names Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha and left-arm spinner Ali Usman. The board has also said two pacers from the ongoing Patron's squad will be added to the Test group once the warm-up match against Sri Lanka, starting November 6 in Islamabad, is done — meaning the pace attack for the Rawalpindi Test is not fully settled yet.
Losing Nissanka removes an established opener from a Sri Lanka top order already adjusting to Kusal Mendis's first assignment as Test captain, while Pakistan's decision to blood three new batters under a returning Babar Azam suggests the hosts are using this series to refresh their batting pool even with two World Test Championship points up for grabs in both matches.
With Nissanka out, Sri Lanka's top order shifts around Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva, and Lahiru Udara's recent domestic form makes him worth a look as a direct-entry pick; on Pakistan's side, Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha remain the safer picks over the three uncapped batters until their red-ball form in Pakistan conditions is established.
Follow ball-by-ball updates once the series begins on SportGod's live matches page, build a squad on SportGod's games page, and check data-backed forecasts on SportGod's predictions page.
Squad and injury details in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked PCB and ICC reporting as of November 2, 2026; the two pacers to be added to Pakistan's squad after the November 6 warm-up match had not been named at the time of writing.
Try Sport God AI live
Live scores, AI predictions, and fantasy — free during IPL 2026.