Salman Ali Agha is the leader of new Pakistan T20I team (Source: AFP)
Pakistan, just like India and other South Asian countries, is a cricket-crazy nation. Every little thing that happens in their cricketing structure is closely observed and quite vehemently criticised too. Another common factor between Pakistan and countries like India and Bangladesh is the obsession with making superstars in cricket.
Status Quo Or Radical Change - The New Approach Dilemma For Pakistan Cricket
In Pakistan, the likes of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan have taken up those positions, and removing them from the team brings with it a lot of criticism. However, in recent times, PCB and Pakistan selectors have taken some bold calls and are trying their best to cater to the demand of adjusting their cricket to the changing times.
Since the last few years, the narrative that Pakistan are playing an outdated brand of T20 cricket has been a constant bone of contention between people who want to persist with the status quo against those who want change. The star-culture made it even more difficult for power-holders to make big changes, but humiliating exits in three consecutive ICC tournaments - World Cup 2023, T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 forced PCB to make changes.
After Long Wait, Pakistan Dare To Look Beyond Babar, Rizwan
The chopping and changing started after the World Cup 2023, but Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan continued to be part of the T20I setup. Even after a humiliating group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024, Pakistan passed the baton from Babar Azam to Mohammad Rizwan, and nothing really changed.
However, a poor show in the Champions Trophy 2025, a tournament played in the ODI format, did what the T20 World Cup loss couldn't. After keeping patience with their superstars all these years, Pakistan decided to drop both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20I squad and appointed Salman Ali Agha as their new captain with plenty of new names in the squad.
The expectation from the new team is clear - play aggressively in the T20Is right from the onset rather than the old philosophy of taking the game deep and accelerating after keeping wickets in hand. The results have been a mixed bag so far, with Pakistan losing nine and winning eleven in 20 games captained by Salman Ali Agha.
The Intent Is Here, Provide Time For Structure To Grow
However, the intent has been evident since Pakistan have decided to travel into new horizons in T20Is. Overall, Pakistan have crossed over 200 in T20Is sixteen times, and four of those occasions have come in the last few months under the leadership of Salman Ali Agha. It shows that Pakistan are moving in the right direction, and it is where PCB and other power-holders in the country need to curb their volatile nature and keep faith in the young T20I team.
The Asia Cup will be the first big challenge for Salman Ali Agha and his boys, and if they do well, it could be a stepping stone for some more success in the future. However, even if the young Pakistan team struggle with consistency in the Asia Cup, the selectors and PCB should not back away from the bold path they have decided to take after a series of failures in ICC tournaments.
The stakeholders in Pakistan cricket need to understand that this aggressive approach to T20 cricket is yet to become a norm in the cricket structure of the country. Thus, currently, there are not many players who immediately fit into this strategy and can succeed at the international level.
Learn From India, England But Understand The Difference Too
The country like India could change its approach quickly after the T20 World Cup 2022 because of the rich source of talent influx from IPL. Pakistan do not have that advantage, while nations like Australia and England have been following this approach for a long time and have created a generation of players who have grown up playing a slam-bang form of cricket.
Thus, this is just the start of a bold new era in Pakistan cricket, which has the potential to change the way not only how they play T20 cricket but also the 50-over format of the game. Pakistan have struggled in both the white-ball formats, and they can take inspiration from England, who were also in the same boat in 2015.
England decided to drop some of their big stars after the 2015 World Cup debacle just like Pakistan have done now, and since then, England's white-ball exploits have been the talk of the town. Pakistan, too, with patience and consistent efforts in a new direction, can unlock novel horizons, but for that, they need to prioritise process rather than short-term results.
We are talking about Pakistan cricket, though, which has always been a battleground of drama and volatility. Thus, things could change drastically again after the Asia Cup. For now, all that a cricket fan can do is to keep hope and expect that people in power will be patient and will allow this new brigade to carve a new path for Pakistan cricket despite hiccups along the way.
