Tillakaratne Dilshan chose to bat against Pakistan in the first Test in Sharjah on Thursday.

Sri Lanka made a couple of changes as they hunt for their first Test win after losing 2^nd test in dubai.

Allrounder Kosala Kulasekara made his debut, while off spinner Suraj Randiv returned to the side. Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal and opener Lahiru Thirimanne were dropped which meant Tillakaratne Dilshan would open with Tharanga Paranavitana.

Pakistan stuck to the same XI that won the second Test.

Pakistan: 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Taufeeq Umar, 3 Azhar Ali, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Adnan Akmal (wk), 8 Umar Gul, 9 Abdur Rehman, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid Khan.

Sri Lanka: 1 Tharanga Paranavitana, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), 3 Kumar Sangakkara, 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Kaushal Silva (wk), 7 Kosala Kulasekara, 8 Suraj Randiv, 9 Rangana Herath, 10 Dhammika Prasad, 11 Chanaka Welegedara.