Pakistan is not yet out of the race for the semi-finals in the T20 World Cup 2026, although many fans believe so. Although now Salman Ali Aga and team has become dependent on the results of other matches as well, but their hopes are still alive. Let us explain to you how Pakistan can now reach the semi-finals.

The first match of the Super-8 of T20 World Cup 2026 was between Pakistan and New Zealand, which was washed out due to rain. After the toss, it started raining heavily, due to which the match had to be abandoned without any ball being bowled. Both the teams got 1-1 points, but Pakistan lost its second match. With the good bowling of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Pakistan was moving towards winning this match, but Harry Brook’s century turned the tables.

England has reached the semi-finals from Group 2 with 4 points. Now there is a fight between New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to become the second semi-finalist. Pakistan has played 2 matches of Super-8. After one loss and one draw, Pakistan has 1 point, their net run rate is minus (-0.461).

How can Pakistan reach the semi-finals?

Equation 1: If New Zealand loses both its matches (Sri Lanka and England), then Pakistan will have to win only the match against Sri Lanka. With this, New Zealand will have only 1 point, Sri Lanka will have 2 points and Pakistan will have 3 points.

Equation 2: If New Zealand loses one of its two matches, and Pakistan beats Sri Lanka. In this situation Pakistan and New Zealand will have 3 points each. Then whichever team has a better net run rate will be the second semi-finalist of this group.

If this happens then Pakistan will be out

If New Zealand defeats England and then Sri Lanka, then this team will have 5 points. Pakistan will reach only 3 points even after defeating Sri Lanka, that is, if New Zealand wins both its matches then Pakistan will be out of T20 World Cup 2026.

The sword of being out of T20 World Cup 2026 hangs over Pakistan. After losing to England, Pakistan has now become dependent on the results of the matches of other teams. The path for Salman Ali Aga and team to reach the semi-finals is now very difficult. After the defeat on Tuesday, the veterans of Pakistan are angry at the Pakistani players. During a live show on a TV channel, a heated argument was seen between Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez questioned Saqlain about Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan.

The anchor of the show asked Saqlain Mushtaq that our team is expecting the batsmen to bowl and the bowlers to bat, hence there is no place for many players. So is this thing going in the wrong direction? In response to this, Saqlain said, “Tactic depends more on bowling, Abrar was not in my playing 11 because there was no balance in the team. Babar had to go to open, I was giving rest to Saim Ayub. Fakhar was at fourth place. Today there was an error in our tactics, due to which mistakes were made. We removed Tariq Ahmed after getting him one over.”

Heated debate between Hafeez and Saqlain Mushtaq

While Saqlain Mushtaq was speaking, Mohammad Hafeez stopped him and said, “I have just one question for you, because you have also done Pakistan level coaching. Will you take Mohammad Nawaz as a batting all-rounder or a bowling all-rounder?”

Saqlain said in response, “I think he is equally good in both.” On hearing this, Hafeez said, “So he should play at number five, if he is good at batting.” Saqlain said, “He has been used at number five, I have also played him at this number.

Mohammad Hafeez kept asking him the same question, do you think he is a batting all-rounder? But instead of giving a direct answer, Saqlain kept saying that he does well in both. Then Hafeez said, “See, I have also played for Pakistan, my priority was my batting. My captain used to tell me that I do not want your overs, you should bat well.”

Heated argument erupts between Mohammed Hafeez and Saqlain Musthaq

-Hafeez questions Shadab’s place in the squad when he cannot fulfill his primary responsibility of bowling

-Saqlain defends his son-in-law Shadab Khan

pic.twitter.com/HBFcwkzsNA

— Brutal Truth (@sarkarstix) February 25, 2026

Questions raised on Saqlain’s son-in-law also

Meanwhile, Hafeez also took the name of Saqlain Mushtaq’s son-in-law Shadab Khan in it. He said, “My primary job was my batting. Similarly, Nawaz’s primary job is his bowling. Shadab’s primary job is his bowling. Saim Ayub’s primary job is his batting. If he is not doing that then we do not want such players.”

Today there is a New Zealand vs Pakistan match in the T20 World Cup, which will be played at R Premadasa Stadium from 7 pm. Before this Super-8 match, Shahid Afridi insisted that Babar Azam should open. Regarding Saim Ayub, he said that he has not been able to perform while opening for a long time. Afridi got angry at his team and even said that if you had already thought that you have to play Babar at number four, then you have gone to play in the tournament only after losing to Pakistan.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said these things on a show on Sama TV. His video is also going viral. Afridi said, “It is okay that Aaqib Javed etc. have made a team for you. I do not blame any one person. But I understand that you field your team after seeing the opposition team, seeing the pitch, seeing the situation, but if you had thought while sitting in Pakistan that Babar Azam will play at number four, then it means that you have lost to Pakistan itself.”

Afridi further said, “If we look at the last 40-50 matches of Saim Ayub, he hardly performed in 2-4 or 5 matches. So it should have been in our mind that if this boy is not performing consistently then we will use Babar Azam there. You should think that Ayub is not performing, which is necessary for the team and we have backup behind. We have Babar Azam as a senior player. Babar Azam is not the number four batsman, if you go to Pakistan thinking this then you have lost.”

I honestly didn’t expect Shahid Afridi to make such a strong statement in Babar Azam’s favour, but I was genuinely surprised to see him so passionately pushing for Babar to open, even putting pressure on the coach and captain. pic.twitter.com/dKtxK2PZ6s

— floki (@Unfeel34) February 21, 2026

Shahid Afridi said that if Saim Ayub is not performing in 2-3 matches in T20 World Cup 2026, then you should have got Babar Azam to open. Let us tell you that Pakistan has reached Super-8, its first match in this group is with New Zealand today. Next they have to play with England and Sri Lanka.

How is Ayub’s performance in T20 World Cup 2026?

Saim Ayub, who scored 24 runs against Netherlands, scored 19 runs against USA. He was out after scoring 6 runs against India and was able to score only 14 runs against Namibia. No big innings have come from his bat yet.

Sahibzada Farhan played a historic inning of 100 runs against Namibia in the T20 World Cup 2026. He has become the second batsman for Pakistan to score a century in the T20 World Cup. He scored unbeaten 100 runs in 58 balls. In this innings he hit 4 sixes and 11 fours. By winning this match, Pakistan will qualify for Super-8, but if it loses then it will be out of the tournament.

This is a do or die match for Pakistan, in which Pakistan, batting first, has set a target of 200 runs for Namibia. Apart from Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Aga played short but important innings of 38 runs and Shadab Khan played 36 runs.

Sahibzada Farhan’s historic century

Earlier in the history of T20 World Cup, only Ahmed Shahzad had scored a century for Pakistan, now Sahibzada’s name has also been added to this list. Farhan could not even open his account in the last match against India, but today he made a good comeback by scoring 100 runs against Namibia.

Let us tell you that this is Sahibzada Farhan’s first century in T20 International cricket, before this his best score in 42 matches played was 80 not out. Apart from this, he has scored 6 centuries in T20 format (League Cricket/Domestic).

Do or die fight for Pakistan

Pakistan cricket team has to defeat Namibia at any cost to qualify for Super-8. Because if Namibia wins then Pakistan will be out of T20 World Cup 2026. Pak and USA teams have 4 points each, but the net run rate of USA is much better.

Team India from Group A has confirmed its place in Super-8. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have qualified from Group B, while Australia is out. West Indies and England have qualified from Group C and South Africa and New Zealand from Group D.

T20 World Cup 2026 is going to start from 7th February, for which all the teams are playing warm-up matches. On Wednesday, India defeated South Africa by 30 runs, while ICC informed about the cancellation of Pakistan vs Ireland match. The Pakistan government has decided that their team will not play in the match against India to be held on 15 February. Even before the ICC action, a big problem has arisen for the PCB.

Pakistan’s warm-up match with Ireland in the T20 World Cup 2026 was scheduled for Wednesday. This match was to be held at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo, which had to be canceled without any ball being played. Although this was a practice match, but such a problem has arisen in front of Pakistan due to which it can get ready to play the match against India even before any action by ICC.

Why was Pakistan vs Ireland match cancelled?

Pakistan vs Ireland match had to be canceled due to rain, in which not a single ball could be played. However, what is worse for Pakistan is that their first match of the T20 World Cup is to be held on this ground and there is a possibility of rain in Colombo on that day too.

Pakistan’s first match is to be held with Netherlands on Saturday, 7th February at the Sinhalese Sports Club Cricket Ground in Colombo. There will be chances of rain in Colombo throughout the day on Saturday. There will be 40 percent chance of rain in the afternoon and 20 percent chance of rain during match time. If this match is canceled then points will be divided between both the teams.

PCB is breaking the contract

Pakistan and Indian cricket boards have signed a contract with ICC that both will play each other in ICC events, but it will be a neutral venue. For this reason, Sri Lanka is co-hosting the T20 World Cup 2026 with India. Now Pakistan is breaking this contract. PCB has not given formal information to ICC about the boycott of the match against India, due to which any action by ICC is being delayed.

t20 world cup 2026 Pakistan has declared its team for T20I, but after the post of PCB Chairman, there is uncertainty over their playing. In fact Mohsin Naqvi Had made a post saying that his final decision on the ICC case is yet to be taken. Amidst these threats from Pakistan Cricket Board, Iceland had enjoyed them, now Uganda has also joined it. He has offered to be ready for the tournament and play as a replacement.

When ICC excluded Bangladesh from T20 World Cup 2026, Pakistan Cricket Board also started threatening to get out of the tournament, although after this PCB also announced the squad but a tweet by Mohsin Naqvi again created an uproar. While sharing the photo of the meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, he said that the final decision in the matter related to ICC will be taken in the next few days. After Iceland, now Uganda enjoyed Pakistan and talked about playing as a replacement in the T20 World Cup.

Uganda enjoyed like this

Uganda wrote in a tweet, “Dear ICC, if there is a vacancy in the T20 World Cup, Uganda is ready, all the luggage is packed and pads are also there. Passports are ready. No baker will leave the oven and no plane will take a U-turn. Heat, noise, pressure? We will come with a bold kit. We are ready.”

Dear @ICC,

If a T20 World Cup seat opens, Uganda is ready – packed and padded.

Passports warm (not ice). No bakers leaving ovens or ships U-turning.

Heat, noise, pressure? We’ll bring the bold kit.

Yours,
Ready when you are https://t.co/6FAsQDLcXw

— Cricket Uganda (@CricketUganda) January 29, 2026

Earlier, Iceland, while making fun of Pakistan, tagged ICC and wrote on social media that “Even if Pakistan withdraws, it is with a heavy heart that we announce that we will not be able to replace Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup.” This was a sarcastic post, in which he also took the name of Scotland and said, “We are not like Scotland that without any kit sponsor, we just felt like it and reached.” Let us tell you that ICC included Scotland in T20 World Cup 2026 in place of Bangladesh, that too only about 15 days before the start of the tournament.

Shaheen Shah Afridi was injured in the Big Bash League about a month before the start of the T20 World Cup 2026. Due to this injury, he had to be out of the league, now he himself gave a big update on his injury and said that he will start bowling from next week. This is good news for Pakistan that the main bowler of their team will be with them from the first match of the tournament.

The organization of T20 World Cup 2026 will start from 7 February. Pakistan will play all its matches in Sri Lanka. India vs Pakistan match will be held in Colombo on 15th February. Afridi said, “My rehab is going on, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) team is keeping an eye on it.”

Will start bowling next week

Shaheen Shah Afridi told ICC, “I am working out in the gym right now and working on my batting. I will also start bowling from next week. It is not as serious as last time. There is a little swelling on the bone. The MRI report was not that worrying, it might not even take a month. It is a matter of a week at most.”

This news is a relief for the Pakistan team and their fans. Pakistan won its last T20 World Cup in 2009. This was the second edition of the tournament, in the first edition also the team had reached the finals. Where India had defeated him. Pakistan had also reached the final in 2022.

Afridi said, “There are always ups and downs in any game. But the aim is to learn from everywhere so that when you play for your country, you have become better. Our focus was to see how we can improve when we play for our country, what mistakes we can correct, what good things we can continue.”

The fast bowler further said, “It is not necessary that you go there and take five wickets in every match or score 50 or 100 runs in every match. Everyone is trying to do better.”

Pakistan’s schedule

Pakistan cricket team is included in Group A in T20 World Cup 2026. The team’s first match is with Netherlands on 7 February. The team faces America on 10th February. In the third match, he faces India on 15 February. In the last match of the group stage, Pakistan’s match is with Namibia on 18 February.