Pakistan announce 15-member squad for T20 World Cup 2026

Under the leadership of Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced their official 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka as they would face the Netherlands in the curtain raiser of the event on February 07 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo.

Having recently become the all-time leading run-getter in the T20I of the Men’s side with 4429 runs in 129 innings at an average of 39.54 and a strike rate of 128.45, thanks to three centuries and 38 half-centuries at the best score of 122, Babar Azam returns to the national side with rich experience in the line-up.

See Also: No international series and Asia Cup for Pakistan? ICC threatens PCB ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

In the absence of Haris Rauf, Pakistan will rely heavily on their premier left-arm pacer, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah, in their pace unit. They have also got a clinical unit, full of all-rounders in the eleven, with the likes of Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz, offering contributions with both bat and ball.

No Haris Rauf in Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2026 squad 

The eyes will also be on Abrar Ahmed, who is likely to have a massive role to play with his leg-spin on the low and slow surfaces of Colombo and Kandy in Sri Lanka. The left-handed opening batter, Fakhar Zaman, will also need to take responsibility to give them a strong start inside the powerplay overs.

Less than 24 hours ago, the PCB chief, Mohsin Naqci, claimed that they would take the final decision of making their trip for the T20 World Cup, only after getting the green signal from their Prime Minister, post ICC’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland in the 20-team competition.

Pakistan will play three home T20Is against Australia as preparation. After their opening World Cup against the Netherlands, they will experience the United States of America (USA), India, and Namibia in the group-stage encounters of the event.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2026

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, Usman Tariq.