Pakistan failed to qualify for the semifinals of the 2026 T20 World Cup after being unable to restrict Sri Lanka to 148 or below in their last Super 8 encounter at Pallekele. This meant that Pakistan have been unable to qualify for semifinals in four consecutive big ICC tournaments, starting with the 2023 ODI World Cup, then the 2024 T20 World Cup and 2025 Champions Trophy. Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has targeted Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi’s advisors and his team for the systematic failure in the board and the need to have right support around Naqvi to guide Pakistan cricket.
“I have nothing against Mohsin Naqvi. From what I hear, he is a good person. He is one of the most powerful chairmen in Pakistan’s cricket history. He has influence, resources and authority. But if he cannot build a strong management structure, and the team has failed to qualify in four consecutive tournaments, then something is seriously wrong within the board. I understand that he may not be a cricket expert and genuinely wants the team to do well. But is he seeking the right advice? It doesn’t appear so,” Akhtar said while speaking on the show Tapmad.
This is a request to Naqvi: the people advising you are making you look bad. The selection committee is not doing you justice. He may want success for Pakistan cricket, but the system around him is not helping. The real question is — who are these people? At this stage, Naqvi remains Pakistan cricket’s last hope, but he needs the right support structure to turn things around,”
In their T20 World Cup campaign, the Salman Ali Agha led Pakistan side did not play opener Fakhar Zaman in their first three matches before playing Zaman at the number five spot in the matches against Namibia and the Super 8 match against England. On Saturday, Zaman played a 42-ball knock of 84 runs and stitched together an opening partnership of 176 runs with opener Sahibzada Farhan. Pakistan had made three changes to the team, which played England in their last Super 8 match for the match against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Spinner Abrar Ahmed, pacer Naseem Shah and Khawaja Nafay came into the side with the team management dropping Salma Mirza, Saim Ayub and Babar Azam. Akhtar questioned the team management over wrong selections in the final XI in the tournament prior to the game against Sri Lanka.
“Pakistan’s management looks completely clueless. Today’s team selection only confirmed that the XI picked over the last 15 days was wrong. There was one clear error — Saim Ayub should have played instead of Khawaja Nafay. Saim could have contributed with the ball as well. This selection showed that when you pick the right players for the right roles, they perform. Fakhar Zaman is a natural opener, yet he hasn’t played earlier. Today, (Sahibzada) Farhan, Fakhar (Zaman) and Abrar (Ahmed) all delivered. That tells you everything.” Akhtar added.
