Pakistan squad for 2026 T20 World Cup announced

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Sunday announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.

The announcement was made during a media conference attended by PCB Director of High Performance and member of the Men’s National Selection Committee Aqib Javed, Head Coach of the Pakistan white-ball team Mike Hesson and T20I captain Salman Ali Agha.

Skipper Salman Ali Agha, along with Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Tariq, has earned his maiden call-up to Pakistan’s squad for a major ICC event.

Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and Usman Khan have featured in one or more editions of the tournament since 2021.

The 2009 champions will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka as per the ‘Fusion Formula’, which states that Pakistan or India will not visit each other for any ICC tournaments for three years and will instead play their respective matches at a neutral venue.

If Pakistan progresses to the semi-finals and final, both knockout matches will be hosted in Colombo. Otherwise, the semi-finals and final will take place in Kolkata and Ahmedabad, respectively.

It is pertinent to mention that the green shirts will kick off their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on February 7 in Colombo.

They will then face the USA on February 10, arch-rivals India on February 15 and Namibia on February 18 in their final group-stage match.

For the unversed, the Super Eight round is scheduled to begin on February 21 in Colombo and conclude on March 1 in Kolkata. 

The first semi-final will be held on March 3, the second on March 5, with the grand finale set for March 8 in Ahmedabad or Colombo.

Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), 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 ICC T20 World Cup 2026 schedule:

February 7 - Pakistan vs Netherlands in Colombo
February 10 - Pakistan vs USA in Colombo
February 15 - India vs Pakistan in Colombo
February 18 - Pakistan vs Namibia in Colombo

- Agencies