No Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi as Pakistan’s 2026 Asian Games squad

Pakistan captain Babar Azam with Shaheen Shah Afridi (PTI Photo) Pakistan has appointed Sahibzad Farhan as the captaincy for the men’s cricket competition at the 2026 Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan during September and October. The selectors opted for a youthful and largely experimental 15-man squad with several uncapped players.Farhan, who has represented Pakistan in 46 T20 Internationals, will lead the national team for the first time in white-ball cricket. Abdul Samad was named vice-captain of the tournament.There are four players in the squad who are yet to make their T20I debut in Pakistan: Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat and Saad Masood. Meanwhile, Usman Khan was selected as the team’s main wicket-taker.Pakistan Team for Asian Games 2026: Sahibzada Farhan (captain), Abdul Samad (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Ali Raza, Arafat Minhas, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Saad Masood, Saim Ayub, Sufyan K Moqim and Usmankeeper.

Do you think Sahibzada Farhan will perform well as captain in the Asian Games?

While Farhan has been a regular in Pakistan’s T20 squad, he has not previously captained the national team in any of the limited-overs formats. Samad, on the other hand, has appeared in five T20Is but has not appeared in the format for Pakistan since March last year. His last international appearance came in the ODI series against Australia.The squad bears little resemblance to the one Pakistan fielded in the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Several established stars have been left out, including regular white-ball captain Salman Ali Agha along with Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan.A significant portion of the selected players are currently participating in Pakistan’s preparations at the National Cricket Academy. Fourteen members of the Asian Games squad are also part of the NCA white-ball camp scheduled to begin in Lahore on June 15.The men’s cricket tournament at the Asian Games will begin on September 24, with the medal matches taking place on October 3.