Pakistan Men's Asian Games 2026 Cricket Squad — Full List, Captain, Schedule

Pakistan's 15-member squad for the Asian Games 2026 cricket event is confirmed, and it comes with a big surprise: a brand-new captain and several uncapped players. Here is the full Pakistan Asian Games 2026 squad, the schedule, and everything you need to know before the tournament starts.

Pakistan Asian Games 2026 Squad: Full List

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named the 15-member squad, which also features new faces in Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood, all of whom are yet to make their T20I debuts.

Full 15-member squad:

Player Role

1 Sahibzada Farhan (Captain) Opening batter

2 Abdul Samad (Vice-Captain) Middle-order batter

3 Abrar Ahmed Spinner

4 Ahmed Daniyal Pace bowler

5 Akif Javed Pace bowler

6 Ali Raza All-rounder

7 Arafat Minhas Pace bowler

8 Haider Ali Batter

9 Hasan Nawaz Batter

10 Maaz Sadaqat All-rounder

11 Mohammad Salman Mirza Bowler

12 Saad Masood All-rounder

13 Saim Ayub Opening batter

14 Sufyan Moqim Pace bowler

15 Usman Khan (Wicketkeeper) Wicketkeeper-batter

Captain and Vice-Captain

Sahibzada Farhan will lead the Pakistan men's team at the Asian Games 2026, being held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. It is his first time captaining Pakistan in white-ball cricket. Farhan enters the tournament in outstanding form — he finished as the leading run-scorer at the 2026 T20 World Cup with 383 runs and currently sits among the top T20I batters in the world rankings. Across 46 T20Is for Pakistan, he has scored 1,305 runs including two centuries and ten fifties.

Abdul Samad, who has played five T20Is for Pakistan, has been named vice-captain of the squad.

Big Names Missing From the Squad

In a notable shake-up, regular T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, along with Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shadab Khan, have all been left out of the Asian Games squad. The PCB has opted for a noticeably fresh group, giving Sahibzada Farhan his first captaincy assignment and handing four uncapped players — Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood — a shot at their maiden T20I appearances. Usman Khan retains his place as the team's primary wicketkeeper.

Pakistan Asian Games 2026 Cricket Schedule

The men's cricket event at the Asian Games 2026 will be held from 24 September to 3 October in Japan, with all matches played at Korogi Athletic Park (Nisshin) in Aichi Prefecture. The tournament features 10 teams, and because they rank among Asia's ICC Full Member nations, Pakistan received a direct entry into the quarter-finals alongside India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — skipping the preliminary group stage altogether.

Key dates for Pakistan:

24–26 September: Preliminary group-stage matches (Afghanistan, Japan, Nepal in Group A; Hong Kong China, Malaysia, Oman in Group B) — Pakistan does not play in this stage. 28 September: Pakistan's quarter-final, where they will face the Group B runners-up. 1 October: Men's semi-finals. 3 October: Bronze medal match and gold medal final. Will Pakistan Face India at the Asian Games 2026?

Pakistan and India have both been placed in separate quarter-final fixtures, with Pakistan playing Quarter-Final 1 and India playing Quarter-Final 2, both on 28 September. This means a Pakistan vs India clash can only happen in the medal rounds — either in the semi-final or, if both teams win their semi-finals, in the gold medal match on 3 October. If both sides lose their semi-finals instead, they could still meet each other in the bronze medal match on the same day.

Pakistan's Asian Games Cricket History

Cricket has featured at the Asian Games three times before — Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014 and Hangzhou 2023 (it was left out of Jakarta 2018). Pakistan won gold in 2010 and 2014, but slipped to fourth place at the Hangzhou 2023 Games, winning one match and losing two. Defending champions India will be aiming to retain the gold medals they won in both the men's and women's competitions at Hangzhou.

FAQs: Pakistan Asian Games 2026 Cricket Squad

Who is the captain of Pakistan's Asian Games 2026 cricket team?

Sahibzada Farhan is the captain, with Abdul Samad as vice-captain.

Why are Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi not in the squad?

The PCB has picked a fresh 15-member group for the Asian Games, leaving out regular top-order names such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan and current T20I captain Salman Ali Agha.

When does Pakistan play its first match at the Asian Games 2026?

Pakistan enters directly at the quarter-final stage on 28 September, having been seeded past the group stage.

Where is the Asian Games 2026 cricket event being held?

All matches are being played at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, as part of the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.

This article will be updated with Pakistan's confirmed quarter-final opponent once the group stage concludes on 26 September.