Sri Lanka will welcome the Afghanistan team in the month of June 2023 in order to play three ODI bilateral series. The ODI series between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan will be crucial for both teams while keeping in mind the ODI World Cup 2023. All the matches of the Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan ODI series 2023 will be held at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium in Hambantota which has a capacity of 35000. The SL vs Afg ODI series 2023 will commence with the first ODI on 2nd June 2023 in Hambantota, then the 2nd ODI will be played on the same ground on 4th June and the series will end with the last ODI on 7th June 2023.
Afghanistan has declared its team squad for the upcoming ODI series with Sri Lanka. The team will be packed with world-class spinner Rashid Khan, a seasoned all-round performer Mohammad Nabi along with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad. The roster also features talented pace bowler Abdul Rahman, 21, who has little experience but lately had success at the provincial level. Afghanistan played the last ODI series with Sri Lanka on Sri Lanka’s soil in 2022 where Afghanistan defeated Sri Lanka by 60 runs in the first ODI. The 2nd ODI ended without any result and then the last ODI was won by Sri Lanka, thus ending the series with a 1-1 result.
Hashmatullah Shahidi will take the responsibility of captain for the Afghanistan team under the guidance of Jonathan Trott as a head coach. On the other hand, Dasun Shanaka will handle the captaincy of the Sri Lanka ODI squad under the coaching of Chris Silverwood. Hashmatullah is a left-handed batter who has appeared in 53 ODIs till May 2023 and added 1505 runs for his team with 13 fifties. Currently, Afghanistan is listed at the 8th position in the ICC ODI team ranking whereas Sri Lanka is holding the 9th position.
In terms of head-to-head in ODI, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have faced each other on 7 occasions where Sri Lanka won 4 matches and Afghanistan could achieve victory in 2 matches while one match ended without any result. Overall, Sri Lanka has appeared in 883 ODIs where they successfully achieved a victory in 399 matches and faced defeat in 440 matches with 39 matches ending without any results. On the other hand, Afghanistan has taken part in 141 ODIs where they won 70 matches and lost 66 matches with 4 matches ending without any outcome. So, it will be interesting and exciting for both fans to watch them fighting against each other in upcoming Sri Lanka vs Afghanistan ODI series 2023.