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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 15-man Pakistan 2026 T20 WC Squad on Sunday Morning.
The selection committee, led by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, announced the squad.
The squad will also play in the T20I series against Australia at home as part of preparations for the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. The selection committee did not announce any reserve players for this tournament.
Here’s the complete squad:
#PlayerRole Bat style Bowl style 67Salman Ali Agha (captain)All RounderRightRH off-break56Babar AzamBatsmanRightRH off-break39Fakhar ZamanBatsmanLeftLH off-break51Sahibzada FarhanBatsmanRightRH off-break63Saim AyubBatsmanLeftLH off-break78Usman KhanWK-BATRight––Khawaja NafayWK-BATRight–21Mohammad NawazAll RounderLeftLH off-break7Shadab KhanAll RounderRightRH Leg-break41Faheem AshrafAll RounderRightLH Fast-Med10Shaheen Shah AfridiBowlerLeftLH Fast71Naseem ShahBowlerRightRH Fast92Salman MirzaBowlerLeftLH Fast40Abrar AhmedBowlerRightRH Leg-break15Usman TariqBowlerRightRH off-break
Pakistan 2026 T20 WC Squad Announced: Who’s In and Who’s Out?
Pakistan announced a 16-man squad for the Australia series. It has all the same members as the World Cup squad. The only notable player that was cut out for the final fifteen was Mohammad Wasim Wazir. The bowler was not picked for the tournament.
There was one eye-catching announcement for the Australia series: the exclusion of Haris Rauf. For the past couple of days, there were rumours that Haris could miss the tournament as head coach Mike Hesson does not want him in the side due to his performances in the matches that mattered the most.
This came out to be true as the announcement today has seen his name excluded.
The player who has made it into the final fifteen is Khawaja Nafay, the wicket-keeper batter who recently made his debut against Sri Lanka. He is known to be a hard-hitting batter in the middle order who can keep wickets as well.
Also Read: Pakistan’s Preliminary 2026 WC Squad – A possible look at who could make the cut
Performances in the last tournament
The 2024 edition was the first time that 20 teams participated. It was also the most teams that participated in any ICC event. Much like this edition, Pakistan were placed in Group A in the previous one alongside arch-rivals India, Canada, Ireland and the co-hosts, the USA.
Pakistan had to offer one of its worst performances in the event. They won two games out of four and were eliminated in the first round. The shock came from the defeat of the debutant USA, who defeated Pakistan in a Super Over. Shortly after, they could not chase 120 against India on a difficult wicket, stamping their elimination from the tournament.
The performances were met with heavy criticism, with Babar Azam resigning from the T20I captaincy and Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim, who reversed their retirement decision to play for Pakistan in the 2024 World Cup, retired again and were never seen again. Rizwan was named the new T20I captain, but after leading the side to just four games without a win, he was removed and replaced by Salman Ali Agha.
YearHostRound ResultFinal Standings2007South AfricaRunners-Up2/122009EnglandChampions1/122010West IndiesSemi Finals4/122012Sri LankaSemi Finals3/122014BangladeshGroup Stage (Super 10s)5/162016IndiaGroup Stage (Super 10s)7/162021India (Played in UAE due to Covid-19)Semi Finals3/162022AustraliaRunners-Up2/162024West Indies and USAGroup Stage (Round 1)11/20
Pakistan 2026 T20 WC Squad Announced: What are we expecting?
In the past twelve months, Pakistan has done better in the T20I format. They have played 35 matches and won 22 of them. They have played two tri-series in 2025 and won both of them, and played the final of the Men’s Asia Cup, where they lost to India.
The stats suggest Pakistan will go and qualify for the Super 8 round. But that seems to be as far as they could go. They still have batting problems, especially in the middle. There has been uncertainty about the fast bowlers’ performances, especially from Shaheen Afridi, who has not been at his best of late and with his injury scare, that could make an impact on his performances.
The 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup will begin on February 7, and the final will be played on March 8. The first match of the tournament will be between Pakistan and the Netherlands, which will begin at 10:30 am PAK time.
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