Pakistan will next play Sri Lanka in Super 8s in Pallekele on February 28.
Salman Butt, a former player for Pakistan, has criticized the Pakistani cricket team following their two-wicket loss to England in the Super 8 on Tuesday, putting them in danger of being eliminated from the T20 World Cup 2026.
Thanks to Sahibzada Farhan’s brilliant 63 runs, Pakistan posted 164/9 in 20 overs against England in Pallekele on February 24. Pakistani bowlers, particularly Shaheen Afridi, gave them a brilliant start, dismissing four batters before England reached 60 runs.
However, Harry Brook, the England captain, smashed 100 in 51 balls to ensure that, despite a late close call, his team won the game by 2 wickets. This also meant that England became the first team to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026 semis.
Salman Butt has singled out Pakistan coach Mike Hesson for criticism, saying that though he uses big words and modern-day lingo, he might not know the definition of modern-day cricket.
“I honestly don’t understand the coach’s logic. Who is in the team, who is out, and what is someone’s batting order? When to give someone the ball, when to take them off? Who bowls against whom? He has just memorized a few non-cricketing terms like ‘match-ups.’ He talks about strike rates and ‘modern cricket,’ but neither he nor the others actually knows the definition of modern cricket. He talks about power hitting, but look at the work they’ve done with these boys—where is the power hitting? Who is hitting sixes? Our players can’t seem to hit a single shot other than toward mid-wicket,” Butt said in a video on his YouTube channel.
He then turned the spotlight on the Pakistan cricket team’s shortcomings.
“Let’s discuss a few things that I’ve been talking about for at least a year now. Some points have been raised for a year, others for four or five years—like fitness, game awareness, tactics, and good captaincy. It feels like with every new captain who comes along, we end up saying, ‘The previous one was actually better.’ When you look at their captaincy, their decision-making, their formations, and their style of play, and then you see the limits of their potential—it is very, very unfortunate.
Up until now, they have been playing in tailor-made conditions, which is why they sometimes boast about rankings or other trivial achievements. They even did a lap of honor after beating Bangladesh. Can you imagine doing a lap of honor with a trophy after beating Bangladesh? You wouldn’t even do that against Australia in a bilateral series. When such small-mindedness exists within the team’s immediate leadership, where can you possibly go?” Butt added.
Butt went on to discuss how Pakistan's victory against Australia in a T20 series at home had given them false hope going into the T20 World Cup.
“You went into the World Cup having played all your series on low, slow, and ‘grippy’ pitches—essentially below-standard tracks. Did you really think the pitches in Sri Lanka would be like that? Was this an ICC event, or were we just preparing for a home series?” Butt asked.
Butt went on to explain how the Pakistani batters had fallen short of expectations. Players like Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman might be participating in their final World Cup, he remarked.
“Regarding spinners, Nasser Hussain even stated today that while Babar Azam is a world-class player, he simply cannot pick Adil Rashid. With all due respect to Rashid, the whole world plays him, but even today, Babar couldn’t pick his googly. Forget Babar—Fakhar Zaman couldn’t pick it either. He even got a free hit against him; the bowler bowled a googly, Fakhar swung blindly, the ball turned, and he was beaten. Then Fakhar hit him for one six, the bowler sent down another googly, Fakhar swung the same way again, the ball went straight up, and he was out.
These are your players—one is likely playing his last World Cup, and for the other, it seems the same. If they can’t even read the hand of the bowler, what will become of them? Or perhaps the coach has made them so ‘relaxed’ that they don’t even bother reading the hand anymore—just play off the pitch. Who looks at the hand? Because the coach is the same; in fact, he’s even further gone,” Butt pointed out.
Butt also had some scathing things to say about the team's other star hitters, like captain Salman Ali Agha and Saim Ayub.
“You’ve made things so easy for Saim Ayub. He’s batting the way people do in the nets—if he feels like it, he plays a ‘no-look’ shot; if he feels like it, he charges down or swings wildly while standing still. It’s as if there’s no pressure of an international game, no sense of responsibility at all.
“Then the captain, Agha, comes in. Against fast bowlers, he has very visible problems against genuine pace—that’s no secret. Because he can’t handle the pace, he tries to attack the spinners; that’s his only survival tactic. There was one fielder outside, and he hit the shot straight into his hands. He probably tried to hit over cover, but it went straight to the man.
“Next comes Babar. A partnership develops there, but it develops at a rate that clearly should have been better. Your scoring rate and strike rate were lacking. Even if we accept that your confidence is down and you’re just trying to build an innings, what kind of shot was that? It felt like he thought, ‘Okay, 10 overs are up; my job here is done,'” Butt concluded.
Pakistan will next play Sri Lanka in their next Super 8s stage game in Pallekele on February 28.