Pakistan national cricket team fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has given a big hint about the divisions inside the current dressing room after the painful two-wicket defeat to England in the T20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 match in Pallekele on February 24.
Shaheen Afridi drops a bomb in the dressing room after Pakistan’s close defeat to England in the Super 8 match of T20 World Cup 2026
After the close defeat against England, many fans felt that the Pakistan team got off to a slow start and could only manage 164/9 on the board in their 20 overs despite another brilliant inning of 63 runs off 45 balls from Sahibzada Farhan. Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman contributed 25 runs each, while Shadab Khan was out after scoring 23 runs.
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The rest of the lineup could only score single digits against England. Defending the modest target, Shaheen Afridi did a brilliant job by dismissing both the openers, Phil Salt for 0 and Jos Buttler for 2 and then the fast bowler also dismissed number four batsman Jacob Bethel for 8 inside the powerplay.
However, Harry Brook’s century was enough for England to cross the line within 20 overs against Pakistan in Pallekele. After the Super 8 encounter, Afridi, who was the standout bowler for Pakistan with 4/30 against England, has added more fuel to the fire with his bold reactions, which clearly point to bigger issues in the team.
Shaheen Afridi criticized Babar Azam’s slow pace
Babar Azam tried to build partnerships as he was focused on settling down, but survival alone is not enough in T20 cricket. Taking a dig at Babar’s slow batting, Shaheen clarified that a proper partnership in T20 requires power and pace to keep the run rate close to eight per over from start to finish.
The innings collapsed when Babar was out after scoring 25 runs in 24 balls. The middle order had to struggle. He lost his rhythm against England. Shaheen credited England spinner Adil Rashid for his tight bowling, which made it more difficult to score runs.
“Partnerships mean you need someone at the crease who can hit boundaries and also rotate the strike with singles and doubles. In T20 cricket, you need to maintain around eight runs per over throughout the innings. But I think Adil Rashid bowled very well,” Shaheen Afridi said in the post-match press conference.
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“Too many all-rounders”: Shaheen Afridi on Mike Hesson
The second big topic of discussion is team selection. Pakistan has packed its team with many all-rounders. When Shaheen was asked about the strategy and whether it reflected head coach Mike Hesson’s thinking, he avoided direct blame.
He said, “I cannot comment on this,” which shows that questions are being raised within the camp as well.
Shaheen Afridi sent a strong message about his role
The former Pakistan T20 captain also spoke strongly about his position in the team. There have been discussions about rotation and possible changes in the bowling attack.
But he made one thing clear: whenever he plays, his job is to attack early, take wickets and put pressure on the opposition from the very first over. Afridi insisted that he wanted to attack from the first ball and did not care about outside opinion.
Afridi said, “It doesn’t matter if I get dropped. Whenever I play, my job is to take early wickets for Pakistan. So I bowl the first over and I don’t want to prove anything to anyone. I just want to prove myself.”
