Babar Azam with Pakistan Cricket Team. Image Credits: X
Pakistan suffered another big defeat at the hands of India in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday night, falling short by 61 runs. The stakes were high, and big names like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan were expected to step up in what looked like a good chance for the Men in Green to win in Colombo.
However, following another failure against the arch-rivals, former captain and legend Mohammad Yousuf did not mince his words. He named the experienced players and called for their expulsion from the T20I squad.
Mohammad Yousuf asks for the removal of big names from T20Is
In the aftermath of the loss, Yousuf, who is known for criticising underperforming players without holding took to his Twitter (X) and penned down a message to PCB. In his tweet, the former captain, with over 17000 international runs to his credit, felt the big names are incompetent to win matches in T20I cricket and asked for youngsters to slot in.
According to Yousuf, the players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Shadab Khan only perform against smaller opposition, and they have been presented with enough opportunities to prove their worth.
"Time’s up for Shaheen, Babar, and Shadab, Pakistan’s T20 squad needs new performers, not empty wins against weaker sides #T20worldcup," he wrote.
Pakistan's big names fail vs India again
As the Men in Green, led by Salman Agha, stepped onto the R Premadasa Stadium, the hopes were high for Pakistan. They were coming in 5 matches unbeaten, including a 3-0 series win against Australia at home, and the familiarity with the conditions was also in their favour.
However, when it was time to replicate their performances, starting with Shaheen Afridi's bowling, the left-arm quick went for 15 runs with the new ball.
This came after Agha had dismissed Abhishek Sharma for a duck and conceded only 1 run in the over. Shaheen wasn't trusted further in the game, until for the 20th over and again went for 16 runs.
Shadab Khan's leg-spin, which looked in full-flow during the recent BBL season, also looked ineffective, and he went for 17 runs in his solitary over. Later in the match, he was dismissed for 14 (15) to part-time bowler Tilak Varma when the pressure was high, and he was at 6.
Babar Azam, who was facing India for the 15th time across formats, once again failed to step up on the occasion. When they needed his experience after 6/2 in 1.2 overs, Babar Azam played a horizontal-bat shot against Axar Patel and got bamboozled for 5 off 7. He now only has two fifties against India in 15 innings and none in almost 3 years now.
Considering the big game performances of the trio, especially against India, Yousuf's criticism makes sense, and the players could indeed see a way out of the T20I squad in the near future.
Pakistan eye a strong comeback vs Namibia
Following a huge loss against India, Salman Agha and co. have slipped down to number 3 in the Group A points table under the USA. Now, the USA have played out their matches, but a Namibia win over Pakistan would mean the USA go through in the Super 8.
Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan will have another opportunity to perform big in a virtual knockout against Namibia to help the team qualify. While Yousuf mentioned the wins over weaker teams should not count, a statement win could shut the criticism for the time being.
A Pakistan win will take them through directly, but they would ideally need some big names to fire for the rest of the tournament to stand a chance to win the title for the first time since 2009.
