Pakistan team off to Sri Lanka to participate in T20 World Cup
National cricket team left Lahore for Colombo on Monday to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (WC), reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The team, which left for Colombo on board SriLankan Airlines at 2:00 in the afternoon, will play its warm-up match against Ireland on February 4.
The 15-member squad is led by Captain Salman Agha and includes Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Muhammad Nafi, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Salman Mirza and Naseem Shah.
Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Shah Afridi have also been named in the squad, while Usman Khan and Usman Tariq have travelled to Sri Lanka with the national team.
The Pakistan team will take complete rest on the first two days after arriving in Sri Lanka.
On Sunday, 24News TV channel reported that Pakistan would not take the field in the match against India during the upcoming WC.
The decision came after a meeting between Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Pakistan will play the World Cup but will not take the field against India in the match to be played on February 15.
“The government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan grants approval to the Pakistan cricket team to participate in the ICC World T20 2026, however, the Pakistan cricket team shall not take the field in the match scheduled on 15th February 2026 against India,” a post on the government’s X account said.
Pakistan boycotted the match against India to show solidarity with Bangladesh who were expelled from the World Cup after they demanded a change in the venue due to the security threats to their team in India.
Pakistan are in Group A along with India, Namibia, Netherlands and USA, and are playing all their matches in Sri Lanka, which is a co-host of the tournament along with India.
They play their first match against Netherlands on February 7, the opening day of the T20 World Cup, and then take on USA on February 10, and Namibia on February 18. Pakistan will forfeit the two points from their game against India if they boycott the fixture.
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Reporter: Wasim Ahmad