Eng vs Pak Match: Salman Agha Fumes as Semi-Final Hopes Dim, Blames Players for Defeat

Eng vs Pak Match Highlights: Pakistan captain Salman Agha’s face reflected the pain after their defeat to England in the T20 World Cup 2026 made their path to the semi-finals difficult. He directly blamed the batsmen for the loss in this crucial match.

Eng vs Pak Match Highlights: England defeated Pakistan by 2 wickets in the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup 2026 in Pallekele on Tuesday. Riding on captain Harry Brook's century, England achieved the target of 165 runs in 19.1 overs, losing 8 wickets. With this, the English team became the first to qualify for the semi-finals, while Pakistan's path to the knockout stage has become difficult. Pakistan directly blamed its batsmen for the defeat in Pallekele.

'We couldn't finish like that'

Salman Agha, reflecting on the defeat after the match, said that the start with the bat was good, but they couldn't finish as they wanted. At the end of the day, sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition. The way Harry Brook batted was brilliant, he completely snatched the game away from us.

'Unfortunately, other batsmen couldn't perform like that'

Regarding Sahibzada Farhan, he said that he has batted very well in every game of this World Cup and has been playing consistently well for us for the last six or seven months. Unfortunately, other batsmen could not perform as we wanted. This can happen in World Cup games, but we hope we can improve in the next match. Afridi bowled very well. We expect that from him. That's what he's famous for, and he did well today.

'He plays 360 degrees around the ground'

When asked if bowling to Brook is challenging, Agha said, "Yes, especially when he is in that kind of form. He plays 360 degrees around the ground, which makes setting fields and executing plans very challenging." Regarding England's batting against Tariq, he said they were smart. They didn't attack too much; they just rotated the strike well. Still, Tariq bowled very well and took two crucial wickets whenever we needed a breakthrough.

'We just have to wait'

Regarding the difficult path to the semi-finals and depending on other results, he said, "We just have to wait and see how the other results go. We will hope they go in our favour, and then we know we have to win against Sri Lanka. Cricket is a fun game; anything is possible. There is always hope, and as a team, we will always keep believing."