Pakistan Team Leaves for Sri Lanka Ahead of T20 World Cup 2026

The Pakistan national cricket team has departed for Sri Lanka ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, which will be jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and India from February 7 to March 8. The squad left on Monday as preparations intensify for the global tournament.

The 15-member Pakistan squad is captained by Salman Ali Agha and features key players including Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed, Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Muhammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq.

After arriving in Sri Lanka, the team will take a short two-day rest before playing a warm-up match against Ireland on February 4 at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo. The same venue will host Pakistan’s group-stage matches against the Netherlands on February 7 and the United States on February 10, while Pakistan will face Namibia on February 18.

Under the International Cricket Council’s Fusion Formula, Pakistan will play all of its World Cup matches in Sri Lanka. This arrangement is designed to prevent Pakistan and India from touring each other’s countries during ICC events, with both teams instead competing at neutral venues.

If Pakistan qualifies for the semi-finals and final, those matches will also be staged in Colombo. In the event of non-qualification, the semi-final will be held in Kolkata, while the final is scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad.

Pakistan, the champions of the 2009 edition, were originally set to play India in a highly anticipated group-stage match on February 15. However, the Government of Pakistan has confirmed that while the team will participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, it will not play that fixture. The move is widely viewed as an effort to exert financial pressure on the ICC, particularly after Pakistan earlier reconsidered its participation following the ICC’s decision to replace Bangladesh with Scotland after Bangladesh declined to tour India.