Pakistan suffered a crushing 61-run defeat at the hands of India in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Group A clash in Colombo on Sunday (February 15).

Opting to field first on a tacky wicket, the Men in Green conceded 175/7 in 20 overs with the ball as Ishan Kishan (77 off 40) took their attack to the cleaners.

Chasing the target, Pakistan were bowled out for 114 in 18 overs. As a result, India made it 8-1 against the arch-rivals in T20 World Cups.

Disappointed by the outcome, former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez demanded accountability from incumbent skipper Salman Ali Agha while also explaining why Pakistan continue to lag behind India in ICC events.

“To sum up the entire thing, we are very, very far behind India in terms of cricket, and we should accept that. There should be no embarrassment in that. This has happened because they set their standards very high. They wanted to beat Australia in Australia and England in England. But we never did that,” Hafeez said while speaking on Tapmad.

Hafeez went on to point out the tactical mistakes that cost Pakistan dearly in the match against India.

“In this match, we made tactical blunders and underutilised our resources. You (Salman) bowled two overs with the new ball and saw there was assistance for finger spinners. You picked up a wicket and conceded just 10 runs. Then why didn’t you bowl a third over? Why bring in a mystery spinner who was not getting anything from that pitch?” he asked.

He felt delayed introduction of Usman Tariq was another big error committed by the Pakistan captain.

“After the sixth over, Hesson came onto the field. I thought Pakistan would rectify their tactical errors and bring Tariq straight away because Ishan was taking the game away from us. Tariq eventually bowled beautifully, but his usage was wrong. Why did we hold him back? He was your trump card,” Hafeez said.

“When Tariq was brought on, the game was already done. And that too, there was no slip. I feel Agha should take responsibility for this. And also the management, because they did not point this out,” he added.

After the hammering against India, calls for senior players’ sacking from the Pakistan team have intensified. However, Hafeez cautioned that merely bringing in new faces would not fix deeper issues.

“You can bring any team member, but if the usage is incorrect… Also, this was the same XI Pakistan played with, so they knew their roles. It was an execution error on their part. It’s time to blame the players, not just the coaches,” he said.

Pakistan now sit third in Group A with two wins and one defeat. They will have to win their last group-stage game against Namibia to qualify for the Super 8s of the tournament.