South African spinner Tabriz Shamsi has hailed Pakistan’s young wicketkeeper-batsman Khawaja Mohammad Nafai following his inclusion in the national squad for the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup scheduled for February 7-March 8 in India and Sri Lanka.
On social media platform X, Shamsi described Nafey as “a serious player” and suggested that he could emerge as the surprise package of the tournament.
“Khawaja Nafe is a serious player. Could be the surprise package of the World Cup,” Shamsi wrote.
The 35-year-old spent time with Nafey during the Global Super League (GSL) and described him as a determined player with big ambitions.
“We got to spend some time together during the GSL and he seemed like a nice guy with big goals for his cricketing career. All the best for your journey ahead,” he added.
Earlier, former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also termed Nafey as a player to watch and tweeted, “The player to watch this World Cup is KM Nafey.”
Notably, Nafey, who recently made his international debut for Pakistan in the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, scored 26 runs off 15 balls, including a four and a six.
The right-handed batsman has been making an impact in the shorter formats in Pakistan Super League (PSL) for Quetta Gladiators and Pakistan Shaheen in recent matches.
He played 12 PSL matches for the Gladiators and scored 234 runs at a strike rate of 130, including two fifties.
Nafey also featured for the Pakistan Shaheens in the recently concluded Hong Kong Sixes 2025, which won the title by defeating Kuwait in the final.
He amassed 151 runs in five matches at a staggering strike rate of 284.90, including a crucial half-century, becoming the third highest run-scorer in the tournament.
For the uninitiated, Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign on February 7 in Colombo against the Netherlands, followed by the USA on February 10, arch-rivals India on February 15 and Namibia on February 18 to conclude the group stage.
The Super Eight round will be held in Colombo from February 21 to March 1 in Kolkata. The first semi-final will be played on March 3, the second semi-final on March 5 and the final on March 8 in either Ahmedabad or Colombo.
Pakistan Team: Salman Ali Agha (catch), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faqar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafe (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shahman Afridi, Usman Khan.
Pakistan’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Schedule:
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