Sri Lanka’s white-ball captain Charith Asalanka and pacer Asitha Fernando have been sidelined from the T20 tri-series in Pakistan due to illness.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) announced on Monday that Dasun Shanaka will lead the team in the tournament, which also features Zimbabwe.

Top-order batter Pavan Rathnayake, who made his ODI debut in Sunday’s third and final match against Pakistan, has been added to the T20 squad. In that game, Pakistan completed a 3-0 ODI series sweep over Sri Lanka, with Rathnayake scoring 32 runs off 37 balls.

The tri-series begins on Tuesday with host Pakistan facing Zimbabwe. Each team will play the others twice, with the top two sides advancing to the final on Nov. 29. All seven matches will be held in Rawalpindi.

SLC confirmed that Asalanka and Fernando will return home to “receive proper care and adequate time to recover ahead of upcoming assignments.”

The tri-series also serves as preparation for next year’s T20 World Cup, for which Zimbabwe has qualified after missing the 2024 edition.

Sri Lanka’s white-ball tour had faced uncertainty following a suicide bombing in Islamabad last week that killed 12 people, hours before the first ODI in nearby Rawalpindi. However, the team continued after the Pakistan Cricket Board assured SLC of adequate security measures.