New Pakistan captain Salman Agha is guiding his team through a transitional phase, while remaining confident in their overall strength.
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Salman Agha Faces Challenge to Rebuild Pakistan Ahead of Asia Cup 2025
Pakistan’s new T20I captain, Salman Agha, faces the tough task of restoring his team’s competitiveness ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup. With the squad in transition, Agha aims to establish Pakistan as genuine contenders in the latter stages of major tournaments, but recent T20 results have highlighted significant work to be done.
Pakistan’s performances in recent T20 competitions have been inconsistent, struggling against stronger teams and dropping matches to sides historically considered lower-tier. Notably, a super-over loss to the USA during the 2024 T20 World Cup prompted journalist Shahid Hashmi to suggest that Afghanistan, semifinalists in that tournament, were now Asia’s second-best team.
During a press conference in Pakistan’s ongoing UAE tri-series—a warm-up for the Asia Cup—Agha responded with a bemused smile to Hashmi’s remarks. Hashmi later clarified on social media that his point was not to suggest Afghanistan had surpassed Pakistan overall, but rather to highlight their strong performance at the World Cup, finishing behind champions India.
As Salman Agha prepares to lead a restructured team, he must balance managing expectations, integrating emerging talent, and ensuring Pakistan can compete for silverware on the continental stage once again.
Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 Journey and Tri-Series Clash with Pakistan
Journalist, and that’s me, said: Afghanistan finished as the second best Asian team in T20 World Cup 2024 … https://t.co/XDZcP6DQvg
— Shahid Hashmi (@hashmi_shahid) August 28, 2025
On his X profile, Hashmi wrote, “Journalist, and that’s me, said: Afghanistan finished as the second-best Asian team in T20 World Cup 2024.” Afghanistan advanced from the group stages, but the tournament’s most dramatic moments came in the Super 8 stage. The team secured a memorable victory over Australia, putting them in prime position to reach the semifinals, and confirmed their spot with a historic win against Bangladesh.
Debates continue over whether Afghanistan currently form a stronger T20 unit than Pakistan, a team navigating a transitional phase. However, with the two teams facing off in the tri-series opener in Sharjah tonight, fans are likely to get a clear indication of their relative strengths.
