Pakistan have named Sahibzada Farhan as captain for men’s cricket event at the upcoming Asian Games 2026. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named a 15-player squad on Wednesday for the continental event set to run from September 19 to October 4 in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
The likes of regular captain Salman Agha, star batter Babar Azam, pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi and allrounder Shadab Khan are among the prominent names who haven’t been picked for the competition.
Farhan, aged 30, has represented Pakistan in 46 T20 internationals, scoring 1,305 runs at a strike-rate of 136.64 that include two hundreds and 10 fifties.
The PCB has also appointed Abdul Samad, who has featured in five T20Is, as the vice-captain.
Among the selected players, four including
Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat, and Saad Masood are yet to play a T20I for Pakistan.
A significant portion of the squad preparation overlaps with the National Cricket Academy setup, as 14 of the 15 chosen players are part of a white-ball camp set to take place in Lahore from June 15 to June 18.
The cricket event at the Asian Games will follow the T20 format and will include 10 participating teams, with matches staged at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture. The men’s competition begins on September 24, while the medal matches are scheduled for October 3.
Separately, the PCB confirmed that a total of 49 cricketers will be involved across its Red-Ball and White-Ball training camps. These programs are aimed at preparing players for both international duties and domestic competitions, with coaching support from national staff, NCA coaches, and PCB medical personnel. The camps will also include fitness and skill-focused sessions, along with individual coaching plans tailored to each player.
Pakistan squad for Asian Games 2026: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper).
