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Pakistan captain Sahibzada Farhan hopes a new combination without star players Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi will come good against Sri Lanka in their Twenty20 International series starting in Rawalpindi on Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n The three-match series will see Farhan take on the skipper\u2019s role after leading a second-string side to silver at the Asian Games in Japan, losing to India in the final last week.<\/p>\n Also missing from the squad are former T20I skipper Salman Agha and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, part of an exodus aimed at building the side for the 2028 T20I World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n \u201cI am confident that this new combination is the best and will settle in this series,\u201d said Farhan on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cI know how to lead the side and I will not take pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n Azam\u2019s form had dipped in T20Is, and he was also dropped from Pakistan\u2019s final match against Sri Lanka at the Twenty20 World Cup in February.<\/p>\n Shaheen is also out of favour for T20Is but will skipper Pakistan\u2019s one-day international side in a tri-series with Sri Lanka and England starting in Rawalpindi from October 18.<\/p>\n Sri Lanka are also in a transition phase with star leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and former skipper Charith Asalanka dropped for the tour.<\/p>\n Hasaranga is joint-fifth in the all-time T20I wicket-taking list with 163 in 101 games.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, Wanindu is still injured, and we will miss him but we have a few other exciting players who I am sure will stand up and perform,\u201d said Sri Lankan skipper Kusal Mendis.<\/p>\n \u201cI think everyone knows how to play in Pakistan,\u201d said Mendis, who played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) earlier this year.<\/p>\n \u201cPakistan also have some new faces but their players are good and we know some of them from the PSL, so I hope our players will do well.\u201d<\/p>\n The remaining two matches are on October 11 and 13, also in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n