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Former wicket-keeper batter Kamran Akmal has delivered a blunt verdict on Pakistan’s ICC T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, arguing that the team’s inability to evolve with the modern game left them trailing behind the competition.
Pakistan’s shortcomings were laid bare during their lacklustre T20 World Cup campaign, which ended on Saturday when the team failed to reach the semi-finals.
From the captain Salman Agha, who was criticised for not being a T20 player, to slow batting rates and the use of all-rounders not up to the job, Pakistan were shown to be behind the times in the rapid-fire format.
Kamran Akmal believes there is a huge gulf in standard between Pakistan and the top sides such as India, West Indies, South Africa and England.
“Other teams have evolved to the demands of Twenty20 cricket, but neither our team nor our players meet those standards,” Akmal told AFP.
“It is like other teams are playing on the moon and we are on Earth. We only beat smaller teams but lose to top teams.”
Pakistan had high hopes for the T20 World Cup 2026 after sweeping Australia 3-0 in a pre-tournament series.
They boasted a quintet of spinners that should have been suited to the turning pitches in Sri Lanka, where they played all their matches.
But they received a rude awakening in their first match against the Netherlands when they squeezed home by three wickets in the final over, thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s 11-ball 29.
Like most of his predecessors at World Cups, Agha blundered in the pressure-cooker match against India, which only went ahead after the Pakistan government U-turned on a boycott just days before the encounter.
Agha won the toss and asked India to bat. The decision backfired badly as Pakistan conceded 175 and were hammered by 61 runs.
Agha inexplicably held back his mystery spinner and chief weapon, Usman Tariq, to the 11th over, by which time opener Ishan Kishan had scored his match-shaping 77, and India were well on their way to a winning total.
“How on earth did you bowl at a venue which was suited to batting first?” questioned former Pakistan player Basit Ali. “After India scored 175, our batters failed to handle the pressure of a chase.”
Agha also held back Tariq’s second over against England, after he took a wicket in his first, allowing captain Harry Brook to build a sparkling match-winning century.
“It was weak captaincy from Agha,” said Kamran Akmal, who also took aim at the head coach Mike Hesson and the selectors.
“We were also not helped by head coach Mike Hesson, who has an obsession for bit-and-pieces all-rounders who were neither complete bowlers, nor good batters.”
Pakistan’s insistence on sticking with the out-of-sorts Babar Azam did nothing to help their shaky batting. The star batter’s slow scoring at number four interrupted the side’s rhythm.
He was dropped for the final match against Sri Lanka on Saturday, where Pakistan finally posted a total in excess of 200, but it proved too little too late as New Zealand progressed on net run rate.
READ: Sanath Jayasuriya to step down as Sri Lanka head coach after World Cup setback
