Sri Lanka name two uncapped players for the Pakistan T20Is with Nissanka and Hasaranga injured

Sri Lanka have named a 15-man squad for their three T20Is in Pakistan, handing maiden call-ups to Sineth Jayawardena and Sahan Arachchige while Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga sit out injured

Sri Lanka's selectors confirmed their Twenty20 squad for the tour of Pakistan on Friday, with Kusal Mendis continuing as captain and two uncapped players included in a group that looks markedly different from the one that toured England.

The three matches will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 9, 11 and 13 October. They open a long tour that also takes in a one-day tri-series and a two-match Test series.

The squad is due to leave for Pakistan on 4 October, a day after several of its members finish their Asian Games commitments.

Two uncapped players come in

Sineth Jayawardena, a left-handed opener who has pushed his case with an aggressive run of domestic form, receives his first T20I call-up.

He is joined by Sahan Arachchige, an off-spinning all-rounder who has been leading Sri Lanka at the Asian Games and now earns a maiden selection in the senior Twenty20 side.

Jayawardena has been among the more destructive openers in Sri Lanka's domestic Twenty20 cricket, and his selection points to a side willing to take the powerplay on rather than bat through it.

Nissanka and Hasaranga ruled out

Sri Lanka will be without two of their most important white-ball cricketers. Pathum Nissanka and Wanindu Hasaranga have both been ruled out through injury, the International Cricket Council confirmed in its report on the announcement.

Both are expected to be available again for the ODI tri-series later in the tour, subject to fitness clearance.

Charith Asalanka, the former white-ball captain, is among the other players left out, along with Janith Liyanage and Tharindu Rathnayake.

Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera is named only subject to fitness, leaving a question over the attack until the squad assembles.

Mendis arrives in form

The captain comes into the series having been Sri Lanka's most reliable batter on the England tour, where he made 198 runs in three innings in the one-day series.

His best there was 121, an innings that stood out in a series Sri Lanka otherwise found difficult.

With Nissanka absent, that top-order responsibility falls more heavily on Mendis, alongside Kamil Mishara and Lahiru Udara.

The middle order leans on Dasun Shanaka and Kamindu Mendis, the two most experienced international cricketers in the group behind the captain.

Viyaskanth and Wickramasinghe return

Wrist-spinner Vijayakanth Viyaskanth is back in the T20I setup after a spell away, and takes on added significance with Hasaranga unavailable.

He lines up alongside Maheesh Theekshana and the left-arm spin of Dunith Wellalage in a group well suited to Rawalpindi.

Seam-bowling all-rounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe also returns, with Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara and Eshan Malinga completing the pace options.

An Asian Games overlap

Several of the chosen players are still in Japan at the Asian Games, where Sri Lanka meet Bangladesh in the bronze-medal play-off on 3 October.

Arachchige and Viyaskanth are among those involved, leaving them a single day between the play-off and the squad's departure.

It is a compressed turnaround at the start of a tour that keeps Sri Lanka in Pakistan across all three formats.

The T20Is are followed by the one-day tri-series, in which England join the two sides, before the tour closes with two Tests against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka T20I squad: Kusal Mendis (capt), Kamil Mishara, Sineth Jayawardena, Lahiru Udara, Sahan Arachchige, Kamindu Mendis, Dasun Shanaka, Chamindu Wickramasinghe, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth, Binura Fernando, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera (subject to fitness).

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