Pakistan T20I skipper Salman Agha (Source: AFP)
Pakistan recently won the home T20I Tri-Series, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the tournament’s final in Rawalpindi last month. It was just like another T20I series when Pakistan displayed their home dominance and registered a comfortable win. However, they have visibly struggled in the T20I assignments away from home.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s T20I skipper Salman Ali Agha also came up with a kind of claim that raised a lot of questions over Pakistan’s preparations to build the potential squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026 in India and Sri Lanka.
Salman Agha claimed that the Men in Green are ‘almost sure’ about their squad for the prestigious cricket biennial set to be played next year. But, there have been certain actions of Pakistan skipper and management that contradict their preparation claims.
Hence, here’s an analysis of the claims made by Salman and reaching to a conclusion if these claims are truly a belief in the mix or just an over-confidence built after home dominance on flat tracks.
The bulk experiments narrate a different story
“Six matches are left before the T20 World Cup, we will have to play with consistency. We cannot make big changes in these six matches,” said skipper Salman Agha in the PCB Podcast.
“We have played with this group for six months, and the results are not starting to appear,” he added later.
However, Salman’s claims are contradicting his own decision taken in coordination with the management concerning the team’s combination in T20Is in the current calendar year. Besides that, the results he is talking about are only the ones they have achieved mostly in the home T20I assignments.
Unlike skipper’s words, Pakistan has made a bulk of experiments in the ongoing calendar year, from top and middle order of the batting lineup to the number of individuals used in the bowling lineup.
Pakistan’s experiments in T20Is in 2025
| Criterion | Data |
| Batters in Opening | 5 |
| Batters in Middle-Order | 16 |
| Pace Bowlers | 13 |
| Spin Bowlers | 7 |
| Total | 41 |
Pakistan has used five batters in the opening slots, 16 in middle-order from number three to number seven, followed by 13 pace-bowling and seven spin-bowling experiments in the bowling attack. This massive number of shuffles in the squad completely narrates a different story that counters Salman Agha’s ‘hollow’ claims.
If this is the same group they are playing with for the last six months then how come 41 shuffles made in different roles and different positions in 34 T20Is played by Pakistan this year. Having this much experimenting underway, how can a management finalize their squad for the T20 World Cup, which is just less than two months away from the time of ‘contradicting claims’.
Obsession with stardom instead of game skills
There was a lot of noise and chatter after Pakistan dropped former skipper and star batter Babar Azam from the Asia Cup 2025 squad. There was a clear heads up for him by head coach Mike Hesson to improve his game and enhance the ability to boost strike rate in the shortest format of the game.
But, there seems to be some serious obsession with stardom in the decision makers of Pakistan cricket, instead of backing the players with format skills and abilities. It is being said because despite Hesson’s heads up and clear instructions, there’s been not an inch of progress in Babar’s batting abilities in T20I cricket. His problem with the strike rate is still there and going nowhere.
Babar Azam in T20Is since comeback after Asia Cup snub
| Criterion | Data |
| Innings | 8 |
| Runs | 206 |
| Avg. | 34.30 |
| Strike Rate | 114.40 |
| 50s | 2 |
| 100s | 0 |
In eight T20I innings after his comeback following Asia Cup 2025, Babar has scored 206 runs, with an average of 34.3 and a below-par strike rate of just 114.40. He scored two half-centuries and that too with a poor strike rate that took a lot of balls.
So, it’s high time when the stakeholders in Pakistan cricket must take some bold calls and drop Babar Azam and come out of stardom theory if they want any bit of success in their plans for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2025.
Conclusion: Need to invest in stability instead of ‘vague claims’
Pakistan in T20Is under Salman Agha in 2025
| Criterion | Data |
| Matches | 34 |
| Won | 21 |
| Lost | 13 |
| Tied | 0 |
Pakistan have played 34 T20Is under the captaincy of Salman Agha in the ongoing calendar year, with 21 wins and 13 defeats, but 17 out of the 21 wins for them have come at flat and ‘almost dead tracks’ of UAE and Pakistan. The other four wins include one in Bangladesh, one in New Zealand, and two in the United States of America against the struggling side of West Indies.
So, the numbers and the texture of Pakistan’s T20Is wins are loudly advising them to trust in stability instead of making ‘vague claims’ in the podcasts just few weeks ahead of a tournament like T20 World Cup.
