In the opening match of T20 World Cup 2026, Babar Azam came to bat at number 4 against Netherlands. Pakistan narrowly escaped a major incident as the Dutch cricket team was not far enough to cause an upset. Keeping Azam in the middle order in this match was not good for the Pakistan cricket team.
The Salman Ali Aga-led side started their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign with a win over the Netherlands. Agha spoke with full confidence after the match, but the way he performed cannot be called a confident performance.
Mohammad Kaif roasted Babar Azam
During the match, when Babar Azam was at the center of the field and partnering with Sahibzada Farhan (47), former India all-rounder Mohammad Kaif made some cheeky comments on Azam’s batting style in the Twenty20 format. The Pakistani superstar is not one of those batsmen around the world who is known for hitting the ball hard.
Kaif, while doing Hindi commentary, said that Babar does not have the strength to hit as much as possible, to hit big shots, not because of his batting style.
(You told him to hit a six, but where could he hit? The field was bad; he doesn’t have that strength, and is hitting sixes) This is not his style. His style is to take runs on the ball and win the match, when he When he went for a big shot, he was out,” Kaif said on air.
Kaif trolled Babar Azam beautifully here pic.twitter.com/uMbF6VSveK
– Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) 7 February 2026
Babar Azam failed to perform well
The opening slot is Azam’s usual batting position. But for a long time and in today’s match at SSC Cricket Ground in Sri Lanka, Pakistan team management kept the experienced batsman to bat at number four in the middle order.
Pakistan made an easy start against Netherlands with 147 runs in the first innings. After the fall of some wickets, the partnership between Farhan and Azam was also looking strong on the pitch. While Farhan was playing all the big shots, Azam was batting at his usual slow pace.
Faheem Ashraf saved the day for Pakistan
Babar was out after scoring only 15 runs out of 18 with a strike rate of 83.33 and put Pakistan in danger. The batsman hit only one four in his brief innings. Thanks to Faheem Ashraf for playing an unbeaten inning of 29 runs on 11 balls and ensuring the victory of his team. Despite losing wickets continuously at short intervals, Pakistan managed to win the match by 3 wickets with three balls remaining.
After the match, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Aga admitted that some bad overs in the middle had complicated his task. He praised Ashraf for playing the match-winning innings.
“We have to do it the hard way… obviously credit to Faheem, the way he batted; I thought he batted very well,” Agha said.
read more: Babar Azam a villain? Salman Ali Aga issues a statement on Pakistan’s spectacular win against Netherlands
