Inside the Team’s Worst T20 World Cup Campaign.
Hopes, expectations, and dreams have all been shattered as the Green Shirts have once again returned empty-handed from an ICC cricket event. After 2023, this is the fourth occasion in three years that Pakistan has failed to reach the last four of an ICC tournament.

In ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 held in India, Pakistan, under the captaincy of Babar Azam, was eliminated in the group stage.

In ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, hosted by the United States and West Indies, Pakistan again led by Babar Azam crashed out in the very first round.

In ICC Champions Trophy 2025, played in the UAE, the national side under wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan failed to progress beyond the group stage.

And now, the latest addition to this disappointing run has come in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and India, where the Pakistan team has once again been knocked out of the tournament in the very first round.

In the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, right-handed batter Sahibzada Farhan, who was playing his first ICC tournament, delivered an outstanding performance. The 29-year-old batter from Charsadda scored 383 runs in 6 innings of 7 matches, facing 239 balls at a strike rate of 160.25, including two centuries and two half-centuries.

In contrast, Babar Azam, the highest run-scorer in T20 cricket, became a burden on Pakistan’s batting lineup due to his poor performance. After scoring just 91 runs in 4 innings across 6 matches, head coach Mike Hesson was compelled to drop him from the team for the match against Sri Lanka.

Captain Salman Ali Agha, for whom this was the third ICC event for Pakistan in three years and his first as captain, disappointed both as a batter and as a leader in the field.

Shadab Khan managed to bowl his full quota of four overs only against relatively weaker teams such as United States, Namibia, and Netherlands. However, against stronger sides like India, England, and Sri Lanka, he struggled badly.

Saim Ayub seemed determined not to perform with the bat. There was little justification to continue playing him purely for bowling, and he was eventually dropped for the match against Sri Lanka.

Serious questions were also raised about the fitness of Shaheen Shah Afridi. The left-arm fast bowler, who has completed 100 wickets for Pakistan across Tests, ODIs, and T20Is, conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.52 in the tournament, proving that perhaps it is now time to give him rest from T20 cricket.

Between 2023 and 2026, Pakistan played four ICC events, and Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Nawaz, and Shadab Khan were the five players who featured in all of them. However, in terms of performance, there is little to show except one disappointing display after another from these so-called big names.

Former cricketers, analysts, and cricket pundits of Pakistan national cricket team expressed their views on the defeat in their own ways. However, the reality is that our players lack fitness, their performance is close to zero, and their focus is almost non-existent.

It is extremely unfortunate to write that many of our players have started to consider themselves bigger than the game. Lucrative central contracts worth millions, attractive match fees, and league deals valued in crores have spoiled these players to such an extent that they seem to know everything except how to focus on the game itself.

Cricketers who cannot tolerate criticism on television or social media after poor performances have further had their mindset distorted by their managers. Instead of delivering performances on the field, many players now dream of becoming heroes through media campaigns.

On social media, you will find these players expressing opinions on almost every topic. But what you rarely see is performance from them on the field. After playing just a few consecutive matches, their lack of fitness becomes completely exposed. When it comes to fitness tests, their excuses never seem to end. And as for their focus on the game – there is hardly any.

They spend a few minutes at the nets and then upload videos on social media as if they are the greatest warriors in cricket. Instead of training seriously on the ground, they spend a few minutes in the gym doing less exercise and making more videos.

So many flaws?

The question is: how will things be fixed now?

The Pakistan Cricket Board must start handling matters in a truly professional manner.

What does that mean? The real question is: is this not happening already?

The answer is: absolutely not.

The process of accountability is virtually zero.

If the cricket board continues to run affairs like this, then the young cricketers coming through the system will be no different from the current players. This is because a culture has developed in our country where players are turned into “heroes” after just one good performance.

After a single victory, congratulations start pouring in from zero all the way to the Prime Minister and other high-ranking personalities. With such an approach, things will never improve.

The path is straightforward: our players must earn their reputation through performances in the game, and the board must ensure that cricket always comes first.

Otherwise, as former Pakistan Test captain Shahid Afridi once rightly said in an interview with BBC a few years ago:

“Sorry, there is no talent in Pakistan cricket.”