Colombo, Sri Lanka

Injuries forced Sri Lanka on Tuesday to drop two key players -- Wanindu Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera -- from its 15-member squad for the 50-over Asia Cup tournament. Sri Lanka's cricket board said Hasaranga, a spin bowling all-rounder, and pace bowler Chameera were in the original squad, but had to be dropped due to their injuries. Two other lesser-known players -- Dilshan Madushanka and Lahiru Kumara -- were also left out because of injuries, the board said.

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The Asia Cup, which starts Wednesday, is a final chance for teams from the region to size each other up before the World Cup in India starting in October. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are co-hosting the six-nation Asia Cup, a hybrid model agreed after India refused to tour Pakistan.

Sri Lanka squad: Dasun Shanaka (Captain), Pathum Nissanaka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Matheesha Pathirana, Kasun Rajitha, Dushan Hemantha, Binura Fernando and Pramod Madushan.

Also read: We will ease him into it slowly: Rahul Dravid on Jasprit Bumrah as pacer set for 50-over return in Asia Cup

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Pakistan face Nepal in Asia Cup opener

Pakistan face Afghanistan in a three-match one-day international series in Sri Lanka starting Tuesday, with skipper Babar Azam seeing it as good preparation for the Asia Cup and World Cup.  The first bilateral ODI series between the two teams will be followed by the six-nation Asia Cup, in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, beginning on August 30 and the World Cup in India from October 5.  

It is a home series for Afghanistan who cannot stage international cricket in their own country because of security fears. "These three matches are a good opportunity for us to test our players in the match situation," Azam told AFP.

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Squads:

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim 

Afghanistan: Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ikram Alikhil, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Mohammad Saleem Safi, Wafadar Momand

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