Haris Rauf. Photo: Collected

LAHORE, Pakistan, Jan 25, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Pakistan left out express pacer 
Haris Rauf from the 15-man squad named Sunday for next month's Twenty20 World 
Cup jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

The 32-year-old finished with 20 wickets in the Big Bash League in Australia 
but selector Aaqib Javed said Rauf doesn't fit in the combination.

"Rauf has played a lot of cricket for Pakistan but we kept conditions in Sri 
Lanka in mind while selecting the squad," Javed told a news conference.

Rauf is also the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in T20I cricket with 133 
in 94 matches.

Salman Agha will lead the squad.

Another pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was declared fit and included in the squad 
with Naseem Shah and relatively inexperienced Salman Mirza the other fast 
bowlers in the squad.

Pakistan will play all their matches in Sri Lanka and will not travel to 
India under an agreement decided last year due to political tension between 
the two countries.

Pakistan have been placed in Group A with archrivals India, Namibia, 
Netherlands and United States for the February 7 to March 8 tournament.

Pakistan open their campaign against the Netherlands in Colombo on February 
7.

In the 20-team tournament, each team are set to play four group games with 
the top two teams qualifying for the Super Eight Stage.

Changes to T20 World Cup squads can be made for any reason until January 31 
and after that with approval from the Event Technical Committee.

In the final build-up for the World Cup, Pakistan will face Australia in a 
three-match T20I series in Lahore on January 29, 31 and February 1.

Squad: Salman Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar 
Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada 
Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq