Pakistan handed Test debuts to four players for the opening match of their two-Test series against Sri Lanka at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, as both sides began a search for a way forward in red-ball cricket.

Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis, leading his country in Test cricket for the first time, won the toss and chose to bowl on a green-tinged pitch. Sri Lanka went without a frontline spinner, instead picking four fast bowlers: Lahiru Kumara, Asitha Fernando, Dilshan Madushanka and Milan Rathnayaka.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam named batters Tayyab Arif and Mohammad Taha, spin-bowling allrounder Arafat Minhas and fast bowler Saqib Khan for their first Tests. The rest of the XI was Azan Awais, Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, wicketkeeper Ghazi Ghori, Razaullah and Mohammad Abbas.

The match is the first of two Tests, with the second scheduled for the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from 17 to 21 November. Both sides carry World Test Championship points into the series: Sri Lanka sit seventh in the standings, while Pakistan are bottom in ninth under interim coach Mike Hesson and captain Babar.