Pakistan ex-speedster Shoaib Akhtar also unleashed a strong attack on Mohsin Naqvi after Pakistan pulled out of the T20 World Cup 2026 early. Although Pakistan won their last Super 8 match against Sri Lanka by a slender margin, they did not do enough to improve their Net Run Rate (NRR). The side led by Salman Ali Agha later lost out to New Zealand in the semifinal ambitions.
After another failure in the ICC tournaments, Akhtar was annoyed with the fact that Pakistan has failed to make semifinals in four consecutive events, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. The former pacer criticized the leadership and management framework of Naqvi and said that despite the powerful PCB chairman, the board did not have a firm and consistent management system.
“Pakistan’s management looks completely clueless. Today’s team selection only confirmed that the XI picked over the last 15 days was wrong. There was one clear error: Saim Ayub should have played instead of Khawaja Nafay,” Akhtar said on Tapmad as quoted by NDTV Sports.
“This selection showed that when you pick the right players for the right roles, they perform. Fakhar Zaman is a natural opener, yet he was not played earlier. Today, Farhan, Fakhar, and Abrar all delivered.”
Shoaib Akhtar
Former Cricketer Slams PCB After Another Global Exit
The former cricketer was not gentle and said that the fact that Pakistan has never reached the final stages of the international competitions was a clear indication that there was something terribly wrong with the system of the board and the general management framework.
“I have nothing against Mohsin Naqvi. From what I hear, he is a good person. He is one of the most powerful chairmen in Pakistan’s cricket history. He has influence, resources, and authority. But if he (Naqvi) can’t build a strong management structure and the team has failed to qualify in four consecutive tournaments, then something is seriously wrong within the board.”
Shoaib Akhtar
Pakistan lost to India in the group stage, but recovered by defeating the United States, Namibia and the Netherlands to make it to the Super Eight. Their attempt however failed in the next round. Two of their matches had been called off against New Zealand because of rain and they were defeated by England, thus in a must-win situation. Pakistan had to win by a huge margin over the Sri Lankan team to boost their Net Run Rate, and they failed to achieve their target and they were forced to pull out.
