Pakistan Star Pacer Ruled Out of Asian Games 2026

Pakistan's left-arm fast bowler Salman Mirza has been excluded from the national squad for the 2026 Asian Games cricket tournament in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. The PCB announced that Mirza suffered a fracture to his left thumb, leading to his replacement by Mohammad Wasim Jnr. Mirza is currently in the process of regaining his full fitness and is anticipated to return to peak condition by the first week of October.

The men’s T20 competition kicks off on September 24 at Korogi Athletic Park, with the medal matches scheduled for October 3. Sahibzada Farhan is set to captain the Pakistani team during the tournament. The first quarterfinal match against a qualifying team is tentatively scheduled for September 28 at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.

The competition features 10 teams, including automatic qualifiers India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and host nation Japan. The remaining four spots were filled by Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Oman through the qualification process. On Sunday, the Pakistan men’s cricket squad convened in Karachi for a training camp at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre.

The camp will span from Monday, September 21, to Thursday, September 24, after which the team is expected to depart for Japan the following evening. Five squad members - Usman Khan, Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz, and Sufyan Moqim - are anticipated to join the camp upon the conclusion of their franchise commitments on Sunday night, according to Barbados local time.