Pakistan have dismissed all speculations claiming their withdrawal from the ICC T20 World Cup and have announced their squad for the upcoming marquee event. Some very big names have once again been audaciously left out by Mike Hesson.
Amid all the speculations against Pakistan, the PCB has revealed the ICC T20 World Cup squad, with Salman Ali Agha continuing as the skipper of the T20I side. Pakistan have made several changes to their squad, which includes the exclusion of pacers Mohammad Wasim and Haris Rauf.
Last time Pakistan played in the ICC T20 World Cup was back in 2024 and failed to advance to the Super-8 stage as well, after they were humiliated by the likes of India and the USA in the group-stage games. Salman Ali Agha and Mike Hesson would surely want to rewrite Pakistan’s fortune this time.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup announced
Salman Ali Agha will be leading for the first time in a World Cup, after having significant success in the Asia Cup, where his team finished as the runners-up, despite having lost all games against India in the competition.
Star batter Babar Azam has returned to the squad despite his horror show in the Big Bash League debut season. Shaheen Afridi has also been named in the squad and is expected to return from his injury by then. Naseem Shah will be leading Pakistan’s new ball proceedings alongside Afridi in Haris Rauf’s absence.
Pakistan Squad: Salman Ali Agha (C), Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.
Pakistan to play an ICC event without Haris Rauf for the first-time since his debut
Haris Rauf made his debut for Pakistan back in 2020 against Bangladesh in Lahore. Since then, Pakistan have played three T20 World Cups, one ODI World Cup and one Champions Trophy among ICC tournaments, and Haris Rauf was a constant in all tournaments.
The 32-year-old speedster from Pakistan has some promising numbers for the Men in Green. He has picked 97 ODI scalps in 54 games and has also picked 133 T20I wickets in 94 matches. He is the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game.
However, Haris has been dropped from the format ahead of the marquee tournament only due to his troubled economy rate. Rauf was thrashed during a high-tension game in the Asia Cup 2025 final, when Tilak Varma took him for runs and took India over the line.
Uganda to be the beneficiary if Pakistan withdraws from the World Cup
This has constantly been on the buzz: what happens if Pakistan withdraws from the competition? But ICC have not been affected by Bangladesh’s withdrawal, as they have Scotland eager to be brought on board for the massive event in India.
Similarly, for Pakistan, ICC would have also planned to bring one team as their replacement. Uganda, who are the next most highly ranked unqualified team for the World Cup, shall be the sole beneficiary of the situation.
However, the PCB seemed to have made their intentions clear with the announcement of the ICC T20 World Cup squad almost a week ahead of the designated time for all teams to reveal their final squad for the T20 World Cup.
