PAK vs NED Playing 11: Salman Agha-led Pakistan will square off against Scott Edwards-led Netherlands in the 1st match of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 on February 07 at Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo.
With the tournament set to begin, both sides are aiming to put up a show during the opening clash. Pakistan has been in red-hot form, securing a 3-0 clean sweep against Australia and will be entering the tournament on a positive note.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands has opted for the conditions in Sri Lanka and will be aiming for a spin challenge.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first. Speaking at the toss, Salman Agha said, “We are gonna bowl first. It’s a fresh pitch, and there’s rain around for a few days. So we just wanted to see if there’s any moisture, and we want to use that.”
“For the first time, I have seen so much grass in Sri Lanka. We have spinners and fast bowlers who can do the job here as well. So, we are playing three pacers, and we have all-rounders for the spin department,” added Salman.
“They (Netherlands) are a very good side. They have played good cricket, and we’ll just focus on our strengths. We want to ensure we execute our plans, and if we do that, we are good enough to beat any side,” concluded Agha.
Check out the combinations for today’s match in Today Pakistan Cricket Team Players List and Today Netherlands Cricket Team Players List.
Meanwhile, Scott Edwards said, “I think it’s a very good-looking wicket. We probably would have bowled as well; we’re happy to bat. I don’t know if it’s a must-win, but obviously you’ve got four games, you have to win three of them to give yourself a chance.”
“For us, it is a big game, but so are the other three games. We’ll give it our best. (On the spin challenge) I hope we are ready for that,” added Edwards.
“We’ve been in India and Sri Lanka for the last sort of month and a half now, so we feel like we’re used to the conditions, and yeah, we’re primed and ready to go. We’ve got plenty of all-rounders, plenty of options for bowling and batting,” concluded Scott Edwards.
PAK vs NED Playing 11
Pakistan Playing 11: Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Agha(c), Babar Azam, Usman Khan(w), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Salman Mirza, Abrar Ahmed
Netherlands Playing 11: Michael Levitt, Max ODowd, Bas de Leede, Colin Ackermann, Scott Edwards(w/c), Zach Lion Cachet, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Kyle Klein, Paul van Meekeren
