The Pakistan national cricket team has reached Sri Lanka on Monday to participate in ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup.
The team will play a warm-up match against Ireland on February 4 as part of its build-up to the tournament.
Earlier team has departed from Lahore for Sri Lanka to begin preparations for the ICC Men’s T-20 World Cup.
According to team officials, the squad will take a complete rest on the first two days. The 15-member national squad is led by captain Salman Ali Agha and includes Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Muhammad Nafi, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq.
Meanwhile, an important decision has been taken by Pakistan regarding the tournament. While the national team has been permitted to participate in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, it will not take the field for the scheduled match against India, effectively boycotting that fixture.
On the other hand, schedule and broadcast details of the warm-up matches for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 have been issued. A total of 16 warm-up matches will be played between February 2 to 6 before the tournament officially begins, with the event starting on February 7. These matches will be held in four cities in the two co-host countries, India and Sri Lanka.
In India, two grounds of the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai and MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai will host the warm-up matches. In the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, the matches will be played at the SSC Cricket Ground, R Premadasa Stadium and Colombo Cricket Club Ground.
Read more: Shahid Afridi endorses govt decision on India match
