Pakistan cricketers Babar Azam (left) and Salman Agha pictured at an airport in Colombo on February 2, 2026. — fb/@srilankacricket
The Pakistan males’s cricket workforce reached Colombo on Monday to participate within the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup 2026, which can be co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February 7 to March 8.
The 15-member squad is led by captain Salman Ali Agha and additional consists of star gamers Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Muhammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq.
Upon arrival in Sri Lanka, the workforce will relaxation right now and tomorrow earlier than their warm-up fixture in opposition to Eire on February 4 on the Sinhalese Sports activities Membership Floor right here.
The venue may also host Pakistan’s group-stage matches in opposition to the Netherlands on February 7, the US of America (USA) on February 10 and Namibia on February 18.
Beneath the Worldwide Cricket Council’s (ICC) ‘Fusion System’, Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka. This association has been made to forestall Pakistan and India from touring one another throughout world occasions, with each groups as a substitute competing at impartial venues.
Ought to Pakistan progress to the semi-finals and remaining, the knockout matches can be held in Colombo; in any other case, the semi-finals and remaining will happen in Kolkata and Ahmedabad, respectively.
On Sunday, the Authorities of Pakistan confirmed that the nationwide males’s workforce would take part within the T20 World Cup 2026 however is not going to play their group-stage match in opposition to arch-rivals India, scheduled for February 15.
The choice is seen as a transfer to use monetary stress on the ICC, which was criticised by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi final week for alleged “double standards” and working beneath the affect of the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The announcement adopted an important assembly between PM Shehbaz Sharif and Naqvi.
Pakistan had reconsidered their participation within the 20-team event after the ICC changed Bangladesh with Scotland following the previous’s refusal to tour India.
