LAHORE: Despite uncertainty around Pakistan’s participation in next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, following PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s statement, Pakistan’s selectors on Sunday afternoon named a 15-player squad to be led by Salman Ali Agha.

Pakistan will open their campaign on 6 February against the Netherlands, followed by matches against the USA (10 February), India (15 February) and Namibia (18 February). All of Pakistan’s matches will be in Colombo.

Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi were named in the squad, but Haris Rauf was one of seven players from the side eliminated in the first round of the 2024 event who failed to retain their places. The other six players are Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim (retired), Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir (retired) and Mohammad Rizwan.

These seven players have been replaced by Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Tariq. Amongst these seven players, only Nawaz has previously played in a T20 World Cup.

For Salman Ali Agha, this will be his first ICC event as Pakistan captain after taking charge last April. Babar Azam has been retained following an inconsistent selection policy last year; he featured in only eight of the 34 T20Is Pakistan played in 2025.

Likewise, Shaheen Shah Afridi missed 13 T20Is in 2025, and there were concerns over his fitness after his BBL participation was cut short due to a knee injury.

While Pakistan have announced the squad, questions remain over the team’s participation in the event after PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi told the media on Saturday that government clearance was still required. He made the statement after the ICC replaced Bangladesh with Scotland in Group C while rejecting Bangladesh’s request to move its match venues from India to Sri Lanka.

Addressing a media conference, Aqib Javed said the selectors announced the squad as they had to meet the ICC deadline. He said the government’s decision was still awaited and the PCB chairman was liaising with Islamabad.

Pakistan last week named a 16-player squad for the T20Is against Australia on 29 and 31 January, and 1 February. Mohammad Wasim Junior is the only player from that squad who has missed the cut for the Sri Lanka event.

Pakistan have until 1 February to make any changes to the squad. After 1 February, all changes will require the Event Technical Committee’s approval and can only be made on fitness grounds.

Pakistan squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.

Pakistan squad for Australia T20Is: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq.