T20 World Cup 2026: Pakistan may need bold changes

PALLEKELE: Shaheen Afridi’s performance against England makes it likely he will keep his spot. If Pakistan are to stick to two specialist seamers on this surface, it makes it a straight shootout between Naseem Shah and Salman Mirza.

What’s less certain is how the equation changes Pakistan’s batting line-up. So far, they have been reluctant to drop Babar Azam, or play Khawaja Nafay. Any caution needs to go out of the window as they battle to stay alive.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Salman Agha (capt), 4 Babar Azam/Khawaja Nafay, 5 Fakhar Zaman, 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Usman Khan (wk), 8 Mohammad Nawaz/Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Afridi, 10 Salman Mirza/Naseem Shah, 11 Usman Tariq

Sri Lanka faced plenty of criticism for their meek capitulation against New Zealand, but as the tournament closes out, wholesale changes are not likely. Kusal Mendis suffered hamstring stiffness against New Zealand and is unlikely to play, with Kamil Mishara returning as wicketkeeper-batter.

Sri Lanka (probable): 1 Pathum Nissanka, 2 Kamil Mishara (wk), 3 Charith Asalanka, 4 Pavan Rathnayake, 5 Kamindu Mendis, 6 Dasun Shanaka (capt), 7 Dushan Hemantha, 8 Dunith Wellalage, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Dilshan Madushanka

New Zealand boast a vastly superior net run rate (1.390) to Pakistan’s (-0.461), so for Salman Agha’s men to progress to the semi-finals, they must win on Saturday by around 64 runs, or chase any Sri Lankan target in about 13.1 overs. Those, for Pakistan, are the only numbers that matter in Pallekele.