Babar scored 25 off 24 balls in the Super 8 clash against England.
Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign has taken a huge blow after a two-wicket loss to England in their Super 8 clash in Pallekele on Tuesday (February 24).
In order to qualify for the semi-finals, the Men in Green will now have to rely on other results of Group 2, also featuring New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
After the defeat, left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi took a veiled dig at Babar Azam and his slow knock against England, hinting towards an alarming rift in the Pakistan camp.
Babar, whose poor strike rate was earlier highlighted by head coach Mike Hesson in a press conference, scored 25 off 24 balls after Pakistan lost two wickets in the powerplay. He was involved in a 46-run partnership with opener Sahibzada Farhan in 38 balls.
While a section of fans say Babar helped steady the innings, others argue that his strike rate of 104 didn’t allow Pakistan to post a formidable total on the board. The right-hander was eventually knocked over by Jamie Overton in the 11th over after struggling to find the big hits. On the other hand, Farhan went on to score 63 off 45 balls.
During the post-match presser, Shaheen was asked about Babar’s knock and how he was trying to build a solid foundation with Farhan after Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha were dismissed cheaply.
Shaheen, however, wasn’t quite impressed as he stressed that a good partnership in a T20 match should ideally come at a run rate of eight or nine per over.
“A partnership means you have to have somebody in the crease who can go for singles and twos. Throughout a T20 innings, you need those eight or nine runs an over, if you want to build a partnership as well,” Shaheen told reporters. “I think that middle phase Adil Rashid bowled really well, so I think the credit goes to him as well.”
“I feel in a wicket like this you need a partnership and you need a set batsman in that position who can bat throughout the middle overs. But unfortunately, we lost wickets back to back, which is why we did not go for that 180-190 score,” he added.
“If you see, when England batted, Harry Brook stayed at the crease and he was rotating the strike and he was just building partnerships. I think we missed this opportunity to build partnerships,” he further remarked.
Coming to the match, Harry Brook slammed a brilliant century as England became the first team to reach the semi-finals.
Opting to bat first, Pakistan rode on Sahibzada Farhan's half-century to post 164/9 on the board. Fakhar Zaman (25 off 16) and Shadab Khan (23 off 11) chipped in with crucial cameos.
In rely, the Three Lions got over the line with five deliveries to spare, thanks to captain Brook’s 100 off just 51 balls with 10 fours and 4 sixes. Shaheen Afridi picked up four wickets but it was not enough for Pakistan.
Pakistan will face Sri Lanka in their last Super 8 fixture on Saturday (February 28) in Pallekele.