Babar Azam went to bat at number 4 against the Netherlands for the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2026. Pakistan narrowly avoided a scare as the Dutch cricket team was not far enough to pull off an upset. Placing Azam in the middle order did not work well for the Pakistan cricket team in this match.
The Salman Ali Agha-led team began their 2026 T20 World Cup campaign with a victory over the Netherlands. After the match, Agha talked with pure confidence, but the way they performed was far from being called a confident performance.
Mohammad Kaif roasted Babar Azam
During the match, when Babar Azam was in the centre of the ground, partnering with Sahibzada Farhan (47), former India all-rounder Mohammad Kaif made some cheeky remarks over Azam’s batting style in the Twenty20 format. The Pakistani superstar is not among the batters across the planet who are known for hitting the ball hard.
Kaif, while doing the Hindi commentary job, stated that Babar does not have enough strength to hit a maximum, hitting big shots, not his batting approach.
“Aapne bola chakka maro, kaha maar paayein, fielder peeche hai, unka taqat nahi hai, style unka chakka marne ka nahi hai. Run-a-ball lo aur match jeetake jaao hai unka style. Jaha badha shot marne gaye, out ho gaye. (You asked him to go for a six, but where could he hit it? The field was set back; he doesn’t have that power, and hitting sixes isn’t his style. His style is to take a run at the ball and win the match. When he went for a big shot, he got out,” Kaif said on air.
Kaif trolled Babar Azam beautifully here 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/uMbF6VSveK
— Sensei Kraken Zero (@YearOfTheKraken) February 7, 2026
Babar Azam failed to deliver
The opening slot is Azam’s usual batting position. But for a long time and in today’s match at the SSC cricket ground in Sri Lanka, the Pakistan team management put the experienced batter in the middle order, for the number four batting position.
Against the Netherlands’ first innings of 147, Pakistan started the run chase smoothly. The partnership of Farhan and Azam in the middle, after the fall of a couple of wickets, was looking solid as well on the pitch. While Farhan was playing all the big shots, Azam was going with his usual slow-pace batting.
Faheem Ashraf saved the day for Pakistan
Babar was dismissed for only 15 off 18 with a strike rate of 83.33 and left Pakistan in danger. The batter smashed only one boundary in his brief innings. Thanks to Faheem Ashraf for playing the unbeaten 29 off 11 and confirming the win for his team. Despite losing back-to-back wickets in a short interval, Pakistan managed to win the match by 3 wickets with three balls to spare.
After the match, Pakistan skipper Salman Ali Agha admitted that a few bad overs in the middle made their task complicated. He praised Ashraf for playing the match-winning knock.
“We have to do it the hard way… credit to obviously Faheem, the way he batted; I think he batted outstandingly well,” Agha said.
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