Babar Azam was punished by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his poor performance in the T20 World Cup 2026 as the Men in Green failed to qualify for the semi-finals. Babar Azam was recalled to the T20I squad in late 2025, but failed to make the most of the second lifeline.
The former Pakistan captain had a very poor T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. Babar scored only 91 runs in 4 matches at an average of 22.75, with the highest score being 46. Their poor performance became a major reason for Pakistan’s early exit from the Super 8 round.
Babar Azam gets punishment after failure in T20 World Cup 2026
After this dreadful performance, the PCB has decided to ban Babar from the entire T20 system. Actually, Babar Azam has been ignored for the upcoming National T20 Cup. Apart from the right-handed batsman, Naseem Shah was also ruled out of the major T20 tournament.
Also read: Babar Azam’s cricket career is over!! Pakistan team announced for Bangladesh ODI
With just days left for the tournament, the PCB’s decision to relocate has created massive buzz across the country, especially after the board reportedly fined the T20 World Cup 2026 squad for poor performance.
The National T20 Cup 2026 will start from March 7 in Peshawar and continue till March 16, while the semi-finals and final will be held on March 17 and 18. All 23 matches will be played at the Imran Khan Cricket Stadium in Peshawar. The stadium recently hosted red-ball games.
Babar Azam was dropped as soon as the schedule and venue of the National T20 Cup was revealed.
Ten regional teams will contest for the trophy – Abbottabad, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Peshawar, Karachi Whites, Karachi Blues, Lahore Blues, Lahore Whites, Multan and Sialkot.
Lahore Whites, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Karachi Whites and Bahawalpur have been placed in Group A, while Group B comprises Sialkot, Multan, Abbottabad and Karachi Blues along with defending champions Lahore Blues for Pakistan’s premier T20 tournament.
The top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals. During the group stage, fans will enjoy two matches every day from March 7 to 16. The first game will start at 4:15 pm, and the second match will start at 9:15 pm. The final will start at 8:00 pm.
Peshawar will host the National T20 Cup. PIC.TeawITeaTeaER.Cheym/CSVFEPbV5R
– Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) mARCh 4, 2026
Teams for National T20 Cup 2026:
karachi whites
Saud Shakeel (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Arif Yaqoob, Danish Aziz, Haroon Arshad (U21), Khawaja Mohammad Nafe (wk), Mohammad Asghar, Muhammad Hamza Sohail, Muhammad Umar, Omair bin Yousuf, Rizwanullah, Saifullah Bangash (wk), Saeem Ayub, Saqib Khan and Shan Masood.
Reservation: Asadullah Hamza, Muhammad Tariq Khan, Sohail Khan (wk), Mir Hamza, Huzaifa Ahsan
karachi blues
Muhammad Ghazi Ghauri (captain/wicketkeeper), Ahsan Ali, Asad Akhtar, Jahandad Khan (guest), Jahanzaib Sultan, Khalil Ahmed (guest), Mehran Mumtaz (guest), Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Usman Rahim, Rameez Aziz, Rehman Ghani, Saad Baig (wicketkeeper), Shahnawaz Dahani (guest), Syed Shah Raza Naqvi. and Wahaj Riaz
Reservation: Arish Ali Khan, Raza Chandio, Mohammad Makki, Naqab Shafiq, Huzaifa Munir
Abbottabad
Khalid Usman (captain), Afaq Ahmed, Ahmed Khan, Arshad Iqbal, Atijaz Habib Khan, Fayyaz Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Khushdil Shah (guest), Mohammad Wasim Jr (guest), Mohammad Mohsin Khan, Razaullah, Sajjad Ali (wk), Shadab Khan (guest), Shahab Khan and Shahzeb Khan (U21).
Reservation: Hamid Ali, Adil Naz, Fakhar Zaman, Afaq Khan, Riazullah (U21)
Bahawalpur
Muhammad Imran (c), Ali Shabbir (U21), Daniel Hussain Rajput (guest), Mohammad Faizan Zafar, Haider Ali (guest), Hasnain Majeed (U21), Khaqan Bashir, Mohammad Akram (wk), Mohammad Azab, Mohammad Basit, Mohammad Junaid, Mohammad Sarwar Afridi (guest), Mohammad Sudais, Mohammad Umair and Saad Khan (guest).
Reservation: Ali Hamza Wasim, Aun Shahzad, Mohammad Faizan (U21), Amjad Ali, Gulfam Aziz
faisalabad
Muhammad Irfan Khan (c), Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Afaq Afridi (guest), Asif Ali, Asim Ali Nasir (wk), Atiq-ur-Rehman, Daniyal Ali Khan (U21), Faham-ul-Haq (U21), Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Faizan, Mohammad Zeeshan (U21), Momin Qamar (U21), Mubasir Khan (guest), Muhammad Awais Zafar and Zaman Khan (Guest)
store: Mudassir Zunair, Ali Shan, Ali Asfand, Taimur Sultan, Shahzad Gul
Lahore Blues
Saad Naseem (c), Abdullah Asif (U21), Ahmed Bashir, Ali Hasan Baloch (U21), Ali Razzaq, Asadullah, Atayeb Ahmed, Hamza Zahoor (wk), Hunain Shah, Imran Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Nisar Ahmed, Qasim Akram, Shahid Aziz (guest) and Umar Siddiq.
store: Hammad Butt, Shahrukh Ali, Khawaja Mohammad Abdullah (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Ahsan, Abubakar (U21)
lahore whites
Aamir Jamal (captain), Ali Raza, Ali Shahid Butt, Farhan Yousuf (U21), Imran Dogar, Junaid Ali (wicketkeeper), Kamran Afzal, Mohammad Faiq, Mohammad Akhlaq, Mohammad Mohsin, Mohammad Rameez Jr., Mohammad Saleem, Samama Riaz, Tayyab Tahir and Ubaid Shah.
Reserves: Hamza Nawaz (U21), Muhammad Arsalan (U21), Usama Tariq, Zahid Khan, Zian Bin Farooq (WK).
Multan
Imam-ul-Haq (c), Aamir Yamin, Ali Majeed, Ali Usman, Bismillah Khan (guest, wk), Faisal Akram, Hasan Hafeez, Mohammad Ismail (U21), Mohammad Naim (guest), Mohammad Shahzad, Moheer Saeed, Sheroon Siraj, Sirajuddin, Wasim Akram Jr. and Zain Abbas.
store: Uzair Mumtaz, Abdul Wahab (U21), Mohammad Shan (U21), Saim Ayaz, Alam Zaib Khan (Wicketkeeper)
Peshawar
Mohammad Rizwan (C/WK), Ahmed Hussain (U21), Azam Khan, Ihsanullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Israrullah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (WK), Mohammad Shoaib (U21), Mohammad Imran Jr., Nabi Gul, Sajid Khan, Usman Tariq, Waqar Ahmed and Yasir Khan.
store: Nizar Ali, Muhammad Amir Khan, Abuzar Tariq, Muhammad Amir Barki
Sialkot
Usama Mir (captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Ahmed Hasan, Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Ali Afzal (wk), Athar Mahmood, Azan Awais, Hamza Nazar, Khawaja Arham, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohsin Riaz (wk), Mohammad Ali, Saeed Ali, Shoaib Akhtar Jr. and Tayyab Arif.
store: Ashir Mahmood, Mohammad Huraira, Shahzad Bhatti, Abdul Subhan, Awais Ali, Afzal Manzoor
Hasan Nawaz and Sufiyan Mokim will join the team later.
Also read: Former Indian batsman launches brutal attack on Mohammad Amir over India’s semi-final qualification comments
