Pakistan has to tour Sri Lanka early next year. Pakistan team will play a three-match T20 series in Sri Lanka. This series is very important for the preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup, because Pakistan also has to play its World Cup matches in Sri Lanka. For this three match series PCB Has announced the Pakistan team. Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi have not got a place in this team. Whereas spin all-rounder Shadab Khan has returned to the team after a long time.

Shadab Khan returns to the team

Let us tell you that star batsman Babar Azam and fast bowler Shaheen Afridi are playing in the Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia. In such a situation, both of these PCB Has not called back. Apart from Babar and Shaheen, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Mohammad Rizwan are also playing in BBL. None of them have been included in the team and they will continue to play in the Australian League.

Shadab Khan will return in the three-match series starting from 7 January 2026. After being out of cricket since June this year due to shoulder surgery, he returned to competitive cricket in the BBL this month, where he has performed better than his other compatriots. Pakistan Cricket Board had assured Cricket Australia that its players playing in BBL would be available for the entire season and that is why these players have not been included in the national team.

These players got place in Pakistan team

Pakistan has selected a 15-member squad under the leadership of Salman Ali Aga, which also includes a new face in the form of batsman Khawaja Nafe. Apart from this, Abdul Samad has also returned to the team. The team is as follows – Salman Ali Aga (captain), Abdul Samad, Sam Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq, Usman Khan, Khawaja Nafe, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza and Mohammad Wasim Jr.