Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi dropped as Pakistan announce squad for Asian Games 2026
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Pakistan announce a young squad for the Asian Games 2026.
Pakistan have announced their squad for the Asian Games 2026. The tournament will take place from September to October and will once again feature cricket as one of the sports.
The Asian Games 2026 will take place in Aichi-Nagoya City in Japan. It will start on September 19 and conclude on October 4. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan are among the major cricket-playing nations participating in the tournament. A few associate teams are also part of the tournament.
A total of 10 teams are part of the Asian Games 2026. Japan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Hong Kong China, Nepal, Malaysia, and Oman will be locking horns for the title.
While Japan bagged an automatic qualification as the hosts, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka have qualified as full members of the ICC. Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, and Oman have qualified through Asian Games qualifiers.
Sahibzada Farhan named Pakistan skipper for Asian Games 2026
Sahibzada Farhan is set to lead Pakistan in the tournament, while Abdul Samad is his deputy. Pakistan have named a 15-member squad for the Asian Games 2026.
Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood are a few debutants in the Pakistan squad. They are expected to make their T20I debut in the tournament. Usman Khan has been picked as the primary wicket-keeper. Below is their squad for the tournament.
Pakistan’s squad for the Asian Games 2026: Sahibzada Farhan (C), Abdul Samad (VC), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan Moqim and Usman Khan (WK).
Meanwhile, both men’s and women’s cricket teams will be part of the Asian Games 2026. This is the fourth time that cricket is part of the Asian Games. Earlier, it was played in 2010, 2014, and 2023. India are the defending champions of cricket in the Asian Games, having won the previous edition in 2023.
Interestingly, the India vs Afghanistan final was washed out due to rain. Since India had a better ICC ranking than Afghanistan, they were declared the winner. India won the gold medal, Afghanistan won the silver medal, and Bangladesh bagged the bronze medal.
Who will lead Pakistan in Asian Games 2026?
Sahibzada Farhan will lead Pakistan at the Asian Games 2026.
Who are the hosts of Asian Games 2026?
Japan are the hosts of the Asian Games 2026.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.