SL spinners, Pakistan's ODI form, off-field cuteness among things to watch out for

So we have arrived at another bilateral ODI series. Believe it or not, these were all the rage back in the first half of the 2010s - used so frequently as schedule-filler, to bulk up tours. T20Is and T20 leagues serve that purpose now, and the ODI World Cup is not till 2027. Still, this is a chance for Pakistan and Sri Lanka to do some building towards the next big event. Here are five things to watch for the three-match series starting on Tuesday.

What is clear is that both Sri Lanka and Pakistan are middling ODI sides. The rankings are some reflection - Sri Lanka are currently fourth on the ODI charts, and Pakistan are fifth, and neither side has had a glut of ODIs this year. The difference, though, is that Sri Lanka appear to be an ODI outfit on the rise, having won seven of their 10 matches this year. Pakistan have lost 10 of their 14, and had also crashed out of their "home" Champions Trophy.

There is a little recent uptick for Pakistan, however. They sneaked a victory in the first ODI against South Africa earlier this month, then strode to a thumping win over them in the third ODI to seal a 2-1 series win. That was against a depleted South Africa, and Sri Lanka have sent a full-strength squad.

Still, for a team that was looking for inspiration, perhaps their first series under Shaheen Shah Afridi has provided a new beginning.

So fragile have their runs of form been in the last couple of years, you praise Pakistan batters at your peril. But so far, young left-hand batter Saim Ayub has been putting together the makings of a good ODI career. He has only played 15 innings in the format so far, so we are at the very early stages. But he averages 50.85, and crucially has a strike rate of exactly 100, having hit 712 runs so far.

Against South Africa, he made scores of 39, 53, and 77 off 70 in the third ODI. This is the kind of consistency that could prove helpful in concert with Fakhar Zaman's more erratic returns from the other end. This will be Ayub's first series against Sri Lanka.

While Sri Lanka have won three series this year, against Australia, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe, only the Zimbabwe win came away from home. Generally, over the course of the last two years, as they have rebuilt under captain Charith Asalanka and coach Sanath Jayasuriya, much of their limited-overs success has come at Sri Lankan venues still famed for the turn their tracks offer. The surfaces in Pakistan will likely be more batting-friendly, which will test Sri Lanka's spinners in particular. This is the less-favoured of Wanindu Hasaranga's formats, and Maheesh Theekshana has been far from his best in 2025. Sri Lanka will need them to assert themselves.

By his own increasingly-high standards, 2025 has been just a middling year for Pathum Nissanka in ODIs. In ten innings, he has hit one century and two fifties, and has an average of 32.40, and a strike rate of 84.81. He has been expanding his game in other formats, however. He has hit two Test hundreds in just three innings this year, and his most-recent T20I knock was an outstanding 107 off 58 balls against India. If the surfaces in Rawalpindi are on the flatter side, Nissanka may be a serious force.

Asia's rivalries are packed with machismo and cheap political posturing these days, but one that continues to buck the trend is the Sri Lanka-Pakistan relationship. In their match in the Asia Cup, Abrar Ahmed mimicked Hasaranga's wicket celebration (which Hasaranga had himself pinched from football player Neymar Jr.), and Hasaranga mimicked Abrar's wicket celebration in return. Although this had the potential to turn tense, the players met after the match, and were seen animatedly bro-ing out together (this is the scientific term).

That clip of them shaking hands and half-embracing then became a little piece of viral "brotherhood" content, in an otherwise acrimonious and shameful Asia Cup. The general vibe of Pakistan vs Sri Lanka fixtures over the last 15 years has been that although there can be on-field altercations, the tension seems to almost invariably give way to off-field cuteness.