Khurram Manzoor: “Pakistan will need Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the conditions of the T20 World Cup 2026, because both have always performed well under pressure”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Veteran cricketer Khurram Manzoor believes Pakistan made a mistake by not selecting wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan for the ongoing 2026 T20 World Cup, insisting he has “always performed well under pressure.”
While Manzoor is pleased to see Babar Azam included in the squad, he feels the men in green missed a trick by leaving out Rizwan.
Rizwan has been out of Pakistan’s T20I setup for some time, with many linking his exclusion to concerns over his strike-rate.
“Pakistan will need Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the conditions of the T20 World Cup 2026, because both have always performed well under pressure,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
So far, the men in green have made a strong start to the T20 World Cup, winning both of their matches against the Netherlands and the United States of America.
Across those two games, Azam has scored 61 runs at an average of 30.50 and a strike-rate of 122.
Pakistan’s biggest test now awaits on February 15, when they take on arch-rivals India in Colombo, with both teams heading into the high-voltage clash unbeaten after winning their first two matches.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq