Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi OUT, Fakhar Zaman and Naseem Shah IN, Salman Mirza may…

Pakistan vs Namibia ICC T20 World Cup 2026 Playing 11: Salman Ali Agha’s side are set to make plenty of changes in their must-win Group A match vs Namibia in Colombo on Wednesday.

Pakistan vs Namibia ICC T20 World Cup 2026: Pakistan cricket team and the PCB have been rattled after their humiliating 61-run loss at the hands of arch-rivals Team India at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Sunday. After all the ‘boycott’ drama by the Pakistan Government, the national team finally stepped on the field against Suryakumar Yadav’s side on Sunday and suffered their biggest loss in T20 World Cup to their neighbours.

The result of that massive defeat is that their net run-rate has slipped to -0.403 and they are currently below USA on the Group A Points Table. A loss to minnows Namibia in their final Group A match at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground will mean that USA can qualify for the Super 8 ahead of Pakistan.

There are reports emerging that Pakistan’s military supremo Asim Munir is not happy with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and country’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi after the humiliating loss. According to a News18 report, Munir believes that the team was not ‘fully prepared’ and he has shared his concerns with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country’s Military Secretary.

As a result, Pakistan cricket team are set to take some drastic steps before their final league stage encounter against Namibia. The team management are set to drop former Pakistan captains Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the match against Namibia.

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Sohaib Maqsood calls enemies to those who asked Babar Azam for power hitting.#Cricket | #Pakistan | #SohaibMaqsood | #BabarAzam | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/H0HNuS7zuN
— Khel Shel (@khelshel) February 16, 2026

Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi had failed against Team India

Both Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were flop shows against Team India in their Group A match. Chasing 176 to win, Pakistan were dismissed for only 114 with Babar scoring a painstaking 5 off 6 balls before being bowled by Axar Patel attempting an ugly-looking shot.

Shaheen, on the other hand, was hammered for a massive six by Ishan Kishan off the first ball that he bowled and conceded 31 runs in his 2 overs while claiming only 1 wicket. The Pakistan left-arm pacer’s first over went for 15 and second one costed 16 runs.

In place of Babar, Pakistan are set to play either experienced Fakhar Zaman or wicketkeeper Khawaja Nafay – who has an impressive strike-rate in his brief T20I career. While Shaheen Afridi could be replaced by either Naseem Shah, who is yet to play in the T20 World Cup 2026, or they can bring back left-armer Salman Mirza – who turned out in their opening game against the Netherlands.

Pakistan’s playing 11 vs Namibia in T20 World Cup 2026 match

Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (C), Fakhar Zaman/Khwaya Nafay, Usman Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Naseem Shah/ Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Tariq

For all latest updates of T20 World Cup 2026 you can visit: https://www.india.com/icc-mens-t20-world-cup-2026/

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The Times Of Bengal