Colombo: 2009 champions Pakistan are scheduled to play their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign opener ahead of the Netherlands at the Sinhala Sports Club (SSC) on Saturday.
According to details, the national cricketers started the practice session with warm-up, after which they engaged in fielding practice under the supervision of coaches.
The green shirts then took part in batting and bowling practice in the net sessions.
Notably, Pakistan will face the Netherlands in the curtain-raiser of the 20-team mega event scheduled to be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
However, the opening game of the tournament may be hampered as heavy rain is likely in the evening, with a maximum rainfall of 83 percent and around 4.2 mm of rainfall.
The SSC will host Pakistan’s two group-stage matches against the United States (USA) on February 10 and Namibia on February 18.
Meanwhile, Pakistan is set to skip the third group-stage match against India originally scheduled on February 15 at the R Premadasa Stadium here, as per the orders of their federal government.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan approves the Pakistan Cricket Team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026, however, the Pakistan Cricket Team will not take the field in the match against India scheduled for February 15, 2026,” the Pakistan Government said.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup:
Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faqar Zaman, Khawaja Nafe, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shatab Khan, Usman Khan and Usman Khan.
Pakistan T20 World Cup 2026 Schedule:
- February 7 β vs Netherlands at Colombo SSC
- February 10 β vs USA at Colombo SSC
- February 18 β Namibia vs SSC, Colombo
comments