The Pakistan ODI tri-series gets underway on Sunday, 18 October 2026, with hosts Pakistan taking on Sri Lanka in the first ODI at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The day-night fixture, starting at 1:00 PM local time, opens a seven-match tournament also featuring England, with the final scheduled for 31 October at Lahore's Gaddafi Stadium. With all three boards treating the series as early preparation for the 2027 Cricket World Cup, selections carry real intent — and for Dream11 managers, this is the first major ODI fantasy contest of Pakistan's home season, which makes nailing the opening combination especially valuable.

Pakistan come into the ODIs with momentum and a settled-looking 16-member squad led by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who retains the ODI captaincy. Babar Azam returns to the 50-over setup after missing the T20Is, while the spin department looks deep with Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Sufiyan Moqim all included, backed by the new-ball pairing of Shaheen and Naseem Shah plus Haris Rauf's middle-overs pace. The hosts also arrive fresh from a 2-1 T20I series win over these same opponents in Rawalpindi, a result covered in our PAK vs SL 3rd T20I Dream11 preview, and most of that winning core carries straight into the ODI squad.

Sri Lanka, led by wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis, have named a balanced 16 with Pathum Nissanka and Avishka Fernando at the top, the versatile Kamindu Mendis and Dasun Shanaka in the middle order, and a varied attack built around Maheesh Theekshana's spin and the pace of Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka and Asitha Fernando, with Dunith Wellalage offering left-arm spin and lower-order runs. It is their first bilateral limited-overs tour of Pakistan since 2019, and after pushing the hosts in the T20Is they will back themselves to be competitive over 50 overs, where their spinners traditionally come more into play.

A balanced Dream11 XI for the opener could read: Kusal Mendis (wk), Babar Azam, Pathum Nissanka, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Dunith Wellalage, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Maheesh Theekshana and Haris Rauf. For captaincy, Babar Azam is the standout candidate — his ODI pedigree and the likelihood of batting through the innings give him the highest ceiling — while Shaheen Shah Afridi is the natural vice-captain pick, with new-ball wickets plus late-order hitting giving him multiple routes to points. Pathum Nissanka and Maheesh Theekshana are the strongest differential captaincy options from the Sri Lankan camp.

Beyond the obvious names, a few players to watch could decide fantasy contests. Hasan Nawaz forced his way into the ODI squad on the back of a blazing Asian Games campaign, and his 62-place jump in the ICC T20 rankings underlines the kind of ceiling he offers if he gets a game. Saim Ayub's part-time spin adds a second string for fantasy scoring, while Dunith Wellalage's all-round utility makes him one of the best value picks in the Sri Lankan squad. Keep an eye on the toss-day teams for uncapped names like Saad Baig and Razaullah, but debutants are best avoided in the XI until their roles are confirmed.

Finally, a few match-day pointers: Rawalpindi's surface usually rewards strokeplay under lights, and with dew a possibility in the evening session, chasing sides have often had an edge in day-night games here — so lean slightly toward top-order batters and death bowlers from the team batting second once the toss is known. Confirm the final XIs before locking your team, keep one eye on the keeper slot since both sides carry two glovemen in their squads, and if you want a refresher on contest strategy, our Dream11 fantasy cricket tips guide covers the selection principles that apply just as well to this fixture.