T20 World Cup 2026: Pakistan name 15-man squad, Haris Rauf dropped

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, scheduled to be held across India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8. The selection sees a major change in Pakistan’s T20 setup, with fast bowler Haris Rauf notably left out of the squad.

The squad announcement was made in Lahore during a media conference attended by PCB Director of High Performance and national selector Aqib Javed, head coach of the Pakistan white-ball team Mike Hesson, and T20I

skipper Salman Ali Agha.

The highlight of the announcement is the number of maiden call-ups for an ICC event. Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan, and Usman Tariq will be featuring in their first senior World Cup. 

Pakistan to play all their matches in Sri Lanka

Star Babar Azam, who became the all-time leading run-scorer in men’s T20Is a few months back, has been retained. Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, and Usman Khan are set to provide depth at the top, while the all-round trio of Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Faheem Ashraf will be crucial in both departments. The pace attack will be led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, with Abrar Ahmed being the sole specialist spin option. Meanwhile, Rauf has been ommitted especially given his past success in T20 cricket. 

As per the ICC’s ‘Fusion Formula’, Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka and will not travel to India during the event. If Pakistan reaches the semi-finals or final, the knockout matches will be held in Colombo; otherwise, the latter stages will take place in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

Pakistan has been placed in Group A alongside India, the Netherlands, the USA, and Namibia. They will begin their campaign against the Dutch team on February 7 in Colombo, followed by matches against the USA on February 10, arch-rivals India on February 15, and Namibia on February 18.

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.