Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi set to be dropped; Pakistan's defeat against India to trigger cascading effect: Report

According to a report, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi might be dropped for Pakistan's next match against Namibia.

Pakistan's thrashing at the hands of India in the T20 World Cup 2026 on Sunday might have a cascading effect, and the team management is pondering over the future of Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the ongoing edition of the 20-team tournament. Both Babar and Shaheen had performances to forget against India. The former scored just five runs before playing an ugly slog off the bowling of Axar Patel to throw his wicket and send Pakistan deep into a slumber. On the other hand, Shaheen bowled just two overs, leaking 31 runs, and single-handedly ensuring that India got over the 175-run mark.

Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi might be dropped for Pakistan's next match (AFP)

According to a GeoNews report, the current Pakistan team management, spearheaded by Mike Hesson, is unhappy with the performance of the two senior pros, and there is a chance the duo will be dropped for the upcoming must-win match against Namibia on Wednesday, February 18.

The report further claimed that there are two to three chances on the cards as the management wants to give proper chances to the bench strength.

After the match against India, the Pakistan management decided to give the Green Shirts a rest day on Monday, and the side will resume training on Tuesday, a day before the game against Namibia.

Such was the magnitude of Pakistan's loss to India that PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi left midway through the match, and he wasn't even able to sit out the entire game. The India versus Pakistan contest was also attended by ICC chairman Jay Shah, the BCCI President and Vice-President, Mithun Manhas, and Rajeev Shukla.

Speaking of Babar and Shaheen, the duo have been far from their best in the ongoing World Cup. The two senior pros have failed to live up to the high billing, constantly failing to perform under pressure.

What did Agha say after the loss?

After Pakistan's defeat against India, captain Salman Agha was at a loss for words, finding it tough to explain the shellacking his team had suffered at the Premadasa. Agha was also criticised for the call of bowling first at a venue, where all the previous games in the T20 World Cup 2026 were won by the side that batted first.

“We were believing in our spinners, and they had an off day today. Execution was missing in some parts of the game. We were obviously going to always believe our spinners, because they've done really well in the last six months. And with the batting, I think we didn't start well, and in T20 games, if we lose 3 or 4 wickets in powerplay, you are always chasing the game,” Agha said at the post-match presentation.

“I think, to be very honest, like in first inning it was a bit tacky. The ball was gripping as well. So, the execution was, I think, missing when it comes to bowling, but I think the pitch better played better in the second inning than first inning. But our bowlers like, we didn't bowl according to the situation. And when it comes to batting, we didn't apply ourselves and gave us a chance to go deep in the game,” he added.