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Pakistan will come face to face against the Netherlands in the opening game of the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo on Saturday, February 7.
The Green Shirts have been placed in Group A alongside the Netherlands, the United States, arch-rival India, and Namibia, with all their matches scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Pakistan faces challenges with scheduling and weather, as the government has decided not to play the February 15 match against India, resulting in a forfeit and a hit to net run rate.
The forfeited match leaves the Men in Green with little margin for error, so the team must win all three remaining group games and keep a strong net run rate to advance to next stage.
BBC Weather predicts thundery showers in Colombo on February 7, with partly cloudy skies in the morning, heavier rain in the afternoon and evening, and temperatures ranging from 32°C daytime to 22°C nighttime.
The Salman Agha-led team will enter the marquee event with confidence, boosted by strong performances, including a clean sweep of Australia in the three-match T20I series last week.
Complete squad:
| Salman Ali Agha (c) | Abrar Ahmed | Babar Azam | Faheem Ashraf | Fakhar Zaman |
| Khawaja Nafay | Mohammad Nawaz | Mohammad Salman Mirza | Naseem Shah | Sahibzada Farhan |
| Saim Ayub | Usman Tariq | Shaheen Shah Afridi | Shadab Khan | Usman Khan |
