A day after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi pledged his allegiance with Bangladesh after their replacement at the T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan have named their squad for the tournament. Pakistan, who threatened to join Bangladesh in boycotting the tournament, have backtracked from their stance and have finally announced their 15-man squad, led by Salman Ali Agha.
With the deadline (January 31) coming to name the squads for the T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan addressed a press conference in Lahore on Sunday (January 25). The conference was led by PCB Director of High Performance Aqib Javed, T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, and white-ball head coach Mike Hesson.
No Rizwan-Rauf; Babar Azam-Shaheen Afridi there
Major names that were part of Pakistan’s Asia Cup 2025 squad continue with the team. Sahibzada Farhan impressed, as he has scored the most runs (857 runs at 132.25 SR) since the T20 World Cup 2024, and will open the innings. Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan are there. Interestingly, Babar Azam is also back in the team after missing the T20Is against Sri Lanka due to the Big Bash League (BBL).
Babar had a horrible BBL 15 for the Sydney Sixers, as he mustered 202 runs at an awful strike rate of 103.06. It will be interesting to see where Babar bats, given the hefty competition in the top order. During the start of Hesson’s tenure as Pakistan’s coach, he left Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out of Pakistan’s Asia Cup and opulently discussed the lack of intent from both the batters. While Babar has made his comeback, Rizwan has been ousted. In his last 4 T20Is for Pakistan, Rizwan made just 101 runs at a poor strike rate of 98.05.
Similarly, there’s no place for Haris Rauf in the team after reports came of his exclusion from Pakistan’s probable squad. Rauf despite having a great BBL for the Melbourne Stars, has missed out due to his poor international performances. Since January 2025, Rauf has picked up 23 wickets but at an alarming economy of 9.1 for Pakistan. His horrible bowling in the Asia Cup final cost his team big time against arch-nemesis India.
Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 squad
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 schedule
| Date | Match | Teams | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Feb 7 | 1st Match, Group A | Pakistan vs Netherlands | Colombo, Sinhalese Sports Club | 11:00 AM |
| Tue, Feb 10 | 12th Match, Group A | Pakistan vs United States of America | Colombo, Sinhalese Sports Club | 7:00 PM |
| Sun, Feb 15 | 27th Match, Group A | India vs Pakistan | Colombo, R. Premadasa Stadium | 7:00 PM |
| Wed, Feb 18 | 35th Match, Group A | Pakistan vs Namibia | Colombo, Sinhalese Sports Club | 3:00 PM |
