New Delhi: Pakistan set up a must-win Super 8 match against Sri Lanka at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 as Babar Azam was left out of the squad.
At the toss, captain Salman Agha confirmed three changes to the side.
“Big chances. We need to bat well, bowl well, field well and everything will be fine. We need to put up a good total and try to restrict them. Sometimes it may be tough, sometimes it may be easy and it’s a mixed feeling to know what we need to do. We made three changes. Babar, Syam Ayub, Salman Mirza were not available,” Salman said at the toss.
Babar’s exclusion seems to have something to do with form. In six games so far, he has scored just 91 points, with an average of 22.75 and a shooting percentage of 112.34, numbers that are well below what is expected of a player of his caliber.
Pakistan’s qualification scenario is now simple, but also fraught with challenges.
The Group 2 table has changed dramatically after England defeated New Zealand in Colombo.
England remain unbeaten with six points from three games and have secured top spot. New Zealand are second with three points and have a net run rate of +1.390.
Pakistan has one point from two games and a net run rate of -0.461, ranking third. To qualify, they must beat Sri Lanka by 64 runs to improve their net run rate enough to overtake New Zealand.
Faced with World Cup hopes, Pakistan took the bold step of dropping their star batsman in a do-or-die match.
Pakistan (Starting XI): Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Salman Agha(c), Khawaja Nafay, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq
Sri Lanka (Starting XI): Pathum Nissankar, Kamil Mishara (female), Charis Asarankar, Pawan Ratnayake, Kamindu Mendis, Dasan Shanaka (centre), Janis Lianachi, Dunis Veeralachi, Mahesh Tikshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madhushankar
