Babar Azam in conversation with pacer Haris Rauf during T20 World Cup 2024 game (Source: AFP Photos)
Pakistan cricket team under the leadership of newly appointed ODI skipper Shaheen Afridi, clinched a clean sweep victory by 3-0 against Sri Lanka in the recently concluded three-match ODI series. Even after a clinical win in a home ODI series, there seems to be something seriously wrong with the consistency of the Men in Green.
It can be said courtesy of Pakistan’s poor performances away from home, especially in the major ICC tournaments across the years. On the contrary, there is another side of Pakistan Cricket, which is visible in the performance of the Pakistan Shaheens, the youngsters who showcase their talent to get featured in the senior team.
But eventually, the same loop repeats, and their performance dips when they get a chance to play international cricket, representing their national side. So, here we’ll dissect the possible reasons for the difference in the quality of play between the players while playing for Shaheens and the senior team.
Seniors' unpredictable and inconsistent performance over the years
It has been three years since Pakistan made it to the knockouts of the major ICC tournaments, when they qualified for the summit clash of the T20 World Cup 2022. In this game, they gave a tough time to England, but eventually, their efforts couldn’t be enough to lift the title.
The eventual champions defeated Babar Azam and Co by a margin of five wickets to lift their second T20 World Cup title. But, Pakistan’s performances have taken a continuous dip in the T2O internationals, be it the bilateral assignments away from home or the major ICC tournaments.
After an appearance in the T20 World Cup 2022 final, the team has been subjected to a lot of flaws and errors in the decision-making process by the top management. It includes changing the skippers like a teenager’s morning routine and unusual shuffles in the squad like a startup company changing the name of their co-founders.
ODI World Cup 2023 in India was the second appearance of Pakistan in any prestigious ICC competition after T20 WC 2022, in which they endured a miserable, getting knocked out of the tournament from the league stage only.
The ODI World Cup debacle was followed by some massive changes in the leadership as Babar Azam stepped down as captain of the side. He was replaced by Mohammad Rizwan in ODIs, Shan Masood in Tests, and Shaheen Afridi in T20Is.
However, these changes and replacements didn’t work out much for the Men in Green as they faced an embarrassing 1-4 defeat against New Zealand in January 2024, before Babar Azam was reappointed as the captain of the side in the shortest format of the game.
Babar was given the captaincy, given the team's preparations for the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and the Caribbean. However, this change also failed drastically, and they hardly qualified for the super eight round before getting knocked out of the tournament. The same kind of performance and failure continued for them at home in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Pakistan Shaheens’ better performances than senior team in last few years
Unlike the senior cricket team of Pakistan, the youngsters representing Pakistan Shaheens have produced a good number of better and commendable performances in the last few years. They have given a tough time or even defeated the teams which has been comparatively a harder task for the senior cricket team.
One of their achievements is their appearance in the semi-final of the Emerging Stars Asia Cup last year, where they lost to Sri Lanka. But before that, the Shaheens impressed everyone with their performance throughout the tournament.
Besides that, Shaheens recently achieved something just a few days back which has been only a dream for the senior team. This achievement is outplaying the arch-rivals India at any level of the game. The Boys in Green defeated Jitesh Sharma and Co by a big margin of eight wickets in the Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025.
These are a few visible facts that reflect a serious difference between the youngsters representing the Shaheens and the experienced lads playing for the national team.
Conclusion: The Numbers’ game and Nucleus of the problem
Speaking from the perspective of the numbers in the last one year, the Shaheens have performed way better than their seniors they look up to. The Shaheens have appeared in less number of T20 games compared to the senior team, but the former have a decent winning percentage of 71.42, with five wins and only two defeats in the seven games they played since last year, including the Emerging Stars Asia Cup 2024.
On the other hand, the senior team has an ‘average’ winning percentage of 52.63, with 20 wins and 18 defeats (almost equal) in the 38 T20Is they have played.
Apart from the statistical point of view, what can be considered as the nucleus of this problem is the decision making and policies of the senior team management, uncertainty in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and lack of mental clarity among the selectors while picking the team.
These are the initiation points where the ‘insecurity of spot in the team’ takes a start and creates an unhealthy and tense environment in the dressing room, which eventually reflects in the team's performances at the highest level of the game.
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