Experienced fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been left out of the playing XI and has been replaced by Salman Mirza
Pakistan and Namibia will take on each other in the 35th match of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. While Namibia has been eliminated from the competition, Pakistan are still in it and has no option other than winning this game, as a loss in it would lead to them getting knocked out of the 20-team tournament after the first round.
As far as the form of the two sides in this tournament is concerned, Pakistan has won two and lost one out of the three matches that they have played so far, while their opponent, Namibia, is still in search of their first win, having lost all the games that the team has played till now.
Pakistan would hope for their batters to put on a strong show in the last group game, which wasn’t the case in the high-pressure clash against India. Namibia, on the other hand, would hope for their bowlers to come to the party and restrict Pakistan to a chasable total who are batting first in this contest.
Do Follow Sports Digest on X: https://x.com/SportsDigestINT
Captains’ Opinion
Pakistan’s captain Salman Ali Agha, upon winning the toss saisd that they will be batting first as they want to get the opposition under pressure by posting an above-par total on the board. On being asked if the team is under pressure, Salman said not really, they have been in this situation and know what to do to get out of it. Salman Ali Agha also admitted that the batters need to step up, as the lack of form of the Pakistani batters is a cause of concern for them.
Read More
Gerhard Erasmus, the Namibian captain, was of the opinion that they hadn’t played a perfect game yet, while competing for 40% of it, so they will have to hit their straps in all facets of the game against Pakistan.
Playing XI
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wk), Khawaja Nafay, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq
Namibia: Louren Steenkamp, Jan Frylinck, Jan Nicol Loftie-Eaton, Gerhard Erasmus (c), Alexander Volschenk, JJ Smit, Zane Green (wk), Ruben Trumpelmann, Willem Myburgh, Bernard Scholtz, Jack Brassell
Read More
How will the Pitch Behave
The Pitch at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo is expected to be on the drier side as it has been throughout the game, meaning that the spinners will come into play from the start of the game. Along with the spinners, the pacers can also get maximum purchase out of the surface if they rely on their cutters and slower balls and pitch them in the right areas.
As far as the batters are concerned, they will have to play with caution in the first few overs in order to get used to the pace and bounce of the wicket.
Also Read: IND vs NED, T20 World Cup 2026: Pitch Report, Playing 11, Head To Head And More
