Arif smashes 57 on debut to give Pakistan aggressive start against Sri Lanka in 1st test

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Tayyab Arif smashed an aggressive half-century on debut and provided a new-look Pakistan lineup a confident start to the first cricket test against Sri Lanka on Monday.

The 20-year-old Tayyab struck nine boundaries and a six in his 57-run knock as Pakistan reached 137-2 at lunch on a greenish wicket that lured Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis to bowl first after winning the toss.

Sri Lanka struck back briefly by removing both Tayyab and his opening partner Azan Awais (30) in successive overs before captain Babar Azam, unbeaten on 31, and Mohammad Taha — also among the four Pakistan players on test debut — carried the home team to the interval without further damage.

Taha had a lucky escape when he survived a close lbw review against Milan Rathnayake, who was the pick of the bowlers with 1-18 off his eight-over spell.

Tayyab was fast-tracked to test cricket after an impressive domestic season and showed plenty of maturity against the four-man pace attack. He showed signs of early aggression by pulling fast bowler Asitha Fernando for a six over fine leg and also played some exquisite cover drives as Pakistan raced to 86-0 in 16 overs.

Tayyab completed his half-century off 46 balls with back-to-back boundaries against Lahiru Kumara, who was taken out of the attack after conceding 24 runs in his first four overs.

Rathnayake pulled back the scoring rate by bowling steadily as he struck in his third over when Mendis grabbed a stunning two-handed catch behind the wickets off Awais’ thick inside edge.

Fernando struck from the other end when he found the outside edge of Tayyab’s bat as he tried to play away from the body and gave Mendis a regulation catch.

Pakistan also awarded debuts to Arafat Minhas, a spinning allrounder and player of the recent triangular ODI series and fast bowler Saqib Khan as the home team look to beef up its pool of cricketers for the next World Test Championship cycle.

Last-place Pakistan has won only two of the nine matches in this WTC cycle that included its chaotic 3-0 loss in England in the last series and a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka is ranked No. 7 in the WTC standings, winning just one of its six test matches while drawing three and losing two.

Sri Lanka has a recent happy memory at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium where it achieved the second-highest successful run chase in ODI history — 430 against England in the tri-series last month.

Veteran Mohammad Abbas will lead Pakistan’s pace attack with express fast bowler Razaullah and Saqib. The home team also went without a specialist spinner after Sri Lanka left out its premier spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.

Sri Lanka has been in Pakistan for more than a month, losing the T20 series 2-1 and the final of ODI tri-series to Pakistan.

See AP’s full cricket coverage here

Pakistan's Babar Azam follows the ball after playing a shot during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Sri Lanka's Milan Rathnayaka appeals for an LBW decision against Pakistan's Mohammad Taha during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Tayyab Arif follows the ball after playing a shot during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Pakistan's Tayyab Arif celebrates after scoring his fifty during the first day of the first Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

Ground staff gives final touches to pitch prepare for the first test cricket matches between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested a new passport Monday to facilitate her return from exile two years after she was ousted in a mass uprising.

The government has been seeking her extradition from India and earlier dismissed suggestions she needed new identification documents to return home. Hasina told The Associated Press in an interview this month that she would return to Bangladesh in December at any cost.

In a letter seen by The Associated Press that was emailed to Bangladesh's diplomatic mission in New Delhi, a counsel of Hasina urged the top diplomat to take necessary action to provide her a passport and national identity card.

The letter, sent by London-based law firm Matrix Chambers, asked the mission for the application to be processed “expeditiously” on the basis of Hasina's Bangladeshi nationality and in accordance with “obligations arising under international human rights instruments."

“This is a significant step toward her homecoming. Having had her documents revoked by the previous regime, Her Excellency looks forward to reclaiming her fundamental rights as a Bangladeshi citizen and receiving the necessary documents,” Abu Obaidha Arin, an aide to Hasina, told the AP.

“She is determined to return to Bangladesh by December, and she will undoubtedly return home,” he said.

It was not immediately possible to obtain comment from the Bangladesh government.

On Thursday, Junior Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said Bangladesh wants Hasina to be handed over under an extradition treaty with India. India has declined to hand her over.

“We want Hasina to be handed over. She will be handed over. She is a terrorist. She is a fugitive. There is an active extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India,” he told reporters in Dhaka.

Bangladesh's military sent Hasina to India after student-led protests forced her from power on Aug. 5, 2024. A special tribunal in 2025 sentenced her to death for crimes against humanity, ruling that she was responsible for ordering the crackdown, which left hundreds of people dead and thousands of others injured.

The United Nations has said nearly 1,400 people were killed. Hasina denies any wrongdoing. She also has rejected the tribunal’s verdict and challenged the legitimacy of the trial.

An interim government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, led Bangladesh after Hasina's ouster and held an election in February that Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from contesting.

Tarique Rahman, the son of a longtime archrival of Hasina, came to power in a landslide.

FILE - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives to attend The Queen's Dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool Photo via AP, File)