Pakistan cricket team have announced their squad for the Asian Games 2026 which is scheduled to begin in September. The musical chairs with the captains continues as Sahibzada Farhan has been named as the new skipper for the tournament. Interestingly, veterans such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan among others have been excluded.
Pakistan squad for Asian Games 2026
Sahibzada Farhan (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan
The 15-member Pakistan squad consists of a host of new faces, including three uncapped players – Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood. Abdul Samad will serve as Farhan’s deputy in the tournament. Pakistan’s move to keep several seniors out of the squad for the Asian Games 2026 comes as a surprise. After all, arch-rivals India have announced a full-strength squad for the tournament in a bid to secure the gold medal.
31-year-old Babar Azam, who last featured in a T20I in February 2026, continues to be excluded from the side in the shortest format of the game. Afridi, who has played 103 T20Is and has 136 wickets to his name, has also been left out of the squad. Other notable omissions include Rizwan and Naseem Shah.
Pakistan last played a T20I in the T20 World Cup 2026 earlier this year where they were knocked out of the tournament in the Super 8 stage. After winning 3 out of 4 group stage matches, with their only loss coming against India, Pakistan suffered an early setback in the knockout stage as their game against New Zealand was washed out. They then lost to England by 2 wickets after which they emerged victorious against Sri Lanka by 5 runs. However, they failed to make it to the semi-final as New Zealand boasted of a superior net run-rate.
For those unaware, this year, Japan will host the Asian Games from September 17 to October 3, 2026.
Cricket
No Hardik Pandya for IND vs AFG ODIs as all-rounder suffers leg sprain
