T20 World Cup: Who is that Pakistani player about whom Ashwin gave warning? played only 1 match

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Khawaja Nafe has shown his strength in PSL.Image Credit source: PSL

Amidst the controversy regarding the T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in India and Sri Lanka, Pakistan has announced its squad. On one hand, the Pakistani board, which is giving a symbolic threat of being out of the World Cup, announced the team for the tournament on Sunday. While all the discussion is on the selection of Babar Azam despite his poor form and the dropping of pacer Haris Rauf despite his strong bowling, the name of one player has come into discussion at the moment. The reason for this is former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who has given a kind of warning regarding this player. This player is- Khwaja Mohammad Nafe.

What did Ashwin say for the Pakistani player?

Sunday 25th January pakistan cricket board (PCB) announced a 15-member squad for the World Cup in a press conference. This squad mostly had the same names and faces which were familiar. At the same time, some less famous players were also given a chance. While some controversial decisions were also taken. But in this, the name of Khwaja Mohammad Nafe caught Ashwin’s attention and he mentioned it on social media. Ashwin wrote on his X account, “KM Nafe is a player who should be kept an eye on in this World Cup.”

Why is Khwaja Nafe being discussed?

So who is Khawaja Nafee and why did Ashwin give so much importance to this player? Only 23 years old, Khawaja Nafe is actually a wicketkeeper-batsman, who comes to bat in the middle order. This player started his international career for the Pakistani team in January 2026 itself. He got a chance to play in only one match in the T20 series against Sri Lanka. Before that he had played first class, List A and T20 cricket for Quetta. His statistics in domestic cricket are not very impressive. He could score only 143 runs in 5 first class matches. At the same time, only 6 runs have come in his account in 2 List A matches. But he has scored 714 runs in 33 T20 matches, in which his strike rate is 134.

But in the match in which he made his debut for the Pakistani team, this batsman attracted everyone’s attention. In this match, while chasing the target, Khawaja Nafe scored 26 runs in just 15 balls at a strike rate of 176. Pakistani team lost this match but Khawaja Nafe’s ability to hit big shots impressed everyone. In his career of only 33 T20 matches, he has so far hit 54 fours and 39 sixes. In such a situation, he has been selected for the role of backup-wicketkeeper and finisher in the Pakistani team. This is the reason why Ashwin has asked to keep an eye on this player.

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