Pakistan vs USA T20 World Cup 2026 Predicted 11: Usman Khan OUT, Khwaja Nafay IN, Babar Azam may be…
Pakistan cricket team are getting ready to take on USA in their second Group A game of T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) ground in Colombo on Tuesday. Salman Ali Agha’s side posted a scratchy three-wicket win over Netherlands in their opening match, struggling to overhaul a 148-run target.
The Pakistan batting badly let them down as they collapse from 98/2 at one stage to 114/7 at one stage. One of the biggest cause of concern was batting of former captain Babar Azam, who scored at less than a run-a-ball during his knock of 15.
Apart from Babar Azam, wicketkeeper Usman Khan was dismissed for two-ball duck. Usman’s position in the playing 11 will be in doubt with young Khwaja Nafay breathing down his neck. Nafay has a strike-rate of almost 180 in his brief international career and Pakistan will be keen to test him out before their clash against arch-rivals India in Colombo on Sunday.
Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha had already warned before the tournament got under way that Babar Azam needs to work on his strike-rate and he will not be opposed to dropping either Fakhar Zaman or Babar.
“He (Babar Azam) has been working on his game. Because he knows he needs to up his game. Which is good. If the batter knows and he’s trying, that’s all you can do. And he’s a very, very key player for us in these conditions. Because he’s someone who will hold the world and give us stability. That’s his role is going to be. And he’s a key player for us,” Salman Ali Agha had said.
For USA there are plenty of injury worries after their 29-run loss to Team India in Mumbai last week. Back-up pacer Jasdeep Singh has been already ruled out of the tournament while Ali Khan is in doubt with leg injury. Jasdeep’s replacement Ehsan Adil has been approved by the ICC on Monday night.
“The Event Technical Committee of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 has approved Ehsan Adil as a replacement for Jasdeep Singh in the USA squad. Adil, who has played three Tests and six ODIs for Pakistan but has not yet turned out for the USA, was named as a replacement after Singh was ruled out with an injury to his right shoulder that was sustained during the warm-up game against New Zealand on 5 February,” an ICC statement read.
Apart from Ali Khan, Shubham Ranjane also hobbled off the field in the middle of his second over but came out to bat and slammed 37 in 22 balls against India.
Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif said that USA will beat Pakistan again in the 2026 World Cup pic.twitter.com/Ca5vuUMBTT
— Vishal (@Fanpointofviews) February 10, 2026
Pakistan vs USA T20 World Cup 2026 Group A Predicted Playing 11
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (c), Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan/Khawaja Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed
USA: Andries Gous (wk), Saiteja Mukkamalla, Monank Patel (c), Milind Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthi, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ali Khan/Ehsan Adil, Saurabh Netravalkar