Kandy, February 28 – Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha admitted that dew, execution issues, and persistent problems in the middle order played a key role in his team's elimination from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, even after securing a dramatic five-run victory over Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Stadium on Saturday.
Pakistan successfully defended a massive total of 212/8, but failed to restrict Sri Lanka to below 147, the required score to overtake New Zealand in net run rate, resulting in their elimination from the tournament.
Reflecting on the match and Pakistan's campaign, Agha said losing the toss made the task more challenging on a pitch that became increasingly difficult for bowlers due to heavy dew. "I think when we lost the toss, it was always going to be challenging because of the dew. The pitch was very good, and restricting them to 148 was always going to be difficult," Agha said in the post-match presentation.
"If I had won the toss, it could have been a different story. Dew definitely played a factor, and we couldn't execute our plans the way we wanted to," he added.
Agha also acknowledged a poor performance by the spin attack and accepted that such setbacks are part of the T20 format. "Our spin attack has been brilliant, but Usman had an off day today. That can happen in T20 cricket," he said.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Pakistan skipper did not shy away from addressing the team's batting struggles throughout the tournament. "We couldn't bat well consistently throughout the tournament. Only Sahibzada Farhan batted exceptionally well. If someone had supported him, it could have been a different story," Agha noted.
He added that the middle order remains a major area of concern. "The middle order has been a problem for a few years now. We need to sit down and seriously address this department," he said.
Agha also focused on Pakistan's failure to finish strongly despite dominating most of the innings. "We missed quite a few runs in the last two overs. If we had scored 10–15 more runs, it could have changed the outcome," he concluded.
