PCB penalises Salman Agha-led side for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 debacle

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has fined all 15 players who were a part of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup PKR 5 million (US$ 18,000 approx.) each for the team's lackluster outing which culminated in a Super Eight exit.

The Salman Agha-led side needed to restrict Sri Lanka to 147 or lower in their final Super Eight fixture to qualify for the semifinals, but failed miserably in the end. Sri Lanka ran Pakistan extremely close thanks to Dasun Shanaka's unbeaten 76 off 31 deliveries, which was laced with two fours and eight sixes. 

Pakistan, who at the end of the 12th over mark had Lankans reeling at 101/5, had no answers to Shanka's onslaught and were fortunate to clinch victory. Needing six to win off the last ball, Sri Lanka were hard done by after Shaheen Shah Afridi was allowed to get away with a delivery that pitched outside of the tramline and was not adjudged wide by umpire Rod Tucker.

Pakistan also lost their Super Eight fixture to England, which they also should've won. Defending 165, Pakistan had no answers to Harry Brook, who took the game away from their grasp single-handedly and registered a match-winning century as the Three Lions won by two wickets and five balls to spare.

Salman Agha blames batting failure for T20 World Cup fiasco

 Following the heartbreak against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, skipper Agha underlined Pakistan's disappointing batting performance as the reason behind their underwhelming outing despite the advantage of playing in the same conditions.

"I think we couldn’t bat well throughout the tournament," Agha said during the post-match presentation. "It was only Sahibzada Farhan, he batted exceptionally well. And during that period, if anyone would have helped him bit more, could have been a different story. But yeah, the batting was always a concern throughout the tournament. Especially middle-order. Middle-order has been a problem for us for like a few years now. We need to sit down and obviously definitely want to look at that department as well."