Pakistan has been widely regarded as one of the finest T20 teams in the world. They are the only international team in the world with over 100 wins in the format and have performed considerably well in the T20 World Cups.
The Men in Green have had exceptional T20 players over the years such as Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, and Mohammad Hafeez. Their record in the shortest format of the game has been sublime and they have played a big hand in the success of the national team in T20I cricket.
The T20 World Cup 2021 will provide a chance for the new crop of players to write their names in the books of cricket history. Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam, is already one of the finest batsmen in the current generation. In addition, with an impressive bowling unit including the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, and Haris Rauf, Pakistan has a decent chance of winning their second T20 World Cup.
The Green Jerseys’ record in the mega event has been impressive and they are one of the most successful sides in the T20 World Cup. Let’s have a look at their performances in every T20 World Cup.
1. 2007 T20 World Cup (Runners Up)
The inaugural edition of the tournament was held in 2007 in South Africa. Pakistan cricket team managed to qualify for the final after losing only one match throughout the entire tournament, that too to arch-rivals India in a bowl-out.
Pakistan qualified for the final after defeating New Zealand by six wickets in the semi-final of the tournament. The Men in Green faced arch-rivals India in a high-octane final in the first-ever edition of the tournament.
Unfortunately, Pakistan lost the final by five runs as they came agonizingly close to winning the match. They lost the match with three balls left in the match after Misbah’s unfortunate brain freeze.
Here’s how Pakistan’s squad stacked up for the tournament:
| Shoaib Malik (c) | Kamran Akmal | Mohammad Hafeez | Salman Butt | Younis Khan |
| Fawad Alam | Misbah-ul-Haq | Shahid Afridi | Sohail Tanvir | Umar Gul |
| Yasir Arafat | Mohammad Asif | Iftikhar Anjum | Abdur Rehman |
2. 2009 T20 World Cup (Champions)
The Men in Green brushed away the disappointment of losing in the final in the previous edition and managed to win their first T20 World Cup held in England in 2009. The Green Jerseys were incredible throughout the tournament and steam-rolled past the opposition in the semi-final and the final.
Star all-rounder, Shahid Afridi, put in the player of the match performances in both the semi-final and the final of the tournament. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka comfortably by 8 wickets in the final of the tournament with Afridi smashing a half-century as Pakistan chased down the target of 139 with 8 balls to spare.
Here is Pakistan’s squad for the tournament:
| Younis Khan (c) | Kamran Akmal | Salman Butt | Misbah-ul-Haq |
| Ahmed Shehzad | Fawad Alam | Shahzaib Hasan | Shoaib Malik |
| Shahid Afridi | Abdul Razzaq | Sohail Tanvir | Umar Gul |
| Yasir Arafat | Saeed Ajmal | Mohammad Amir | Iftikhar Anjum |
3. 2010 T20 World Cup (Semi-Final)
Pakistan looked set to qualify for their third successive final in the tournament in the 2010 edition held in the Caribbean but an amazing knock by Australia’s Michael Hussey in the semi-final knocked them out.
Pakistan were in a pole position to win the semi-final against Australia with Aussies requiring 18 runs off the last over with three wickets in hand. Hussey smashed Pakistan’s experienced off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal for 22 runs in the final over and ended Pakistan’s campaign.
Australia went on to lose the final as England won their first T20 World Cup title by defeating the Aussies by 7 wickets.
| Shahid Afridi (c) | Kamran Akmal | Salman Butt | Umar Akmal | Khalid Latif |
| Misbah-ul-Haq | Mohammad Hafeez | Fawad Alam | Hammad Azam | Abdul Razzaq |
| Mohammad Amir | Mohammad Asif | Saeed Ajmal | Mohammad Sami | Abdul Rehman |
4. 2012 T20 World Cup (Semi-Final)
Pakistan continued their good run in T20 World Cup in the fourth edition of the tournament. The Men in Green managed to make it to their fourth consecutive semi-final in the 2012 T20 World Cup but unfortunately could not make it to the final as they lost to Sri Lanka in the semi-final.
The Men in Green were led by Mohammad Hafeez for the first time in a major tournament and despite being one of the best performing teams in the tournament they failed to qualify for the final.
Sri Lanka went on to lose the final as they were defeated by West Indies by 36 runs.
| Mohammad Hafeez (c) | Shoaib Malik | Kamran Akmal | Shahid Afridi | Imran Nazir |
| Umar Akmal | Nasir Jamshed | Asad Shafiq | Yasir Arafat | Abdul Razzaq |
| Umar Gul | Sohail Tanvir | Mohammad Sami | Saeed Ajmal | Raza Hasan |
5. 2014 T20 World Cup (Group Stage)
For the first time in T20 World Cup history, Pakistan failed to make it out of the group stage. They were knocked out of the tournament after losing two of their four matches in the group stage. Pakistan defeated Australia and Bangladesh while they lost to India and West Indies as they crashed out of the tournament.
Sri Lanka qualified for their second successive final and this time they managed to go past the finish line as they defeated India by 6 wickets in the final of the tournament.
| Mohammad Hafeez (c) | Ahmed Shehzad | Kamran Akmal | Sharjeel Khan | Shoaib Malik |
| Umar Akmal | Sohaib Maqsood | Shahid Afridi | Sohail Tanvir | Umar Gul |
| Bilawal Bhatti | Junaid Khan | Mohammad Talha | Saeed Ajmal | Zulfiqar Babar |
6. 2016 T20 World Cup (Group Stage)
The sixth edition of the tournament was held in India in 2016. The Green Jerseys failed to turn around their fortunes from the previous tournament and suffered a similar fate.
The Men in Green had a torrid outing in the tournament as they could only manage to win one match out of their four group stage matches. They finished fifth on the table and were knocked out of the tournament in the group stages.
Pakistan won their first encounter of the tournament against Bangladesh but failed to beat India, New Zealand and Australia in the rest of their matches as they registered only two points in their four matches.
West Indies went on to win their second T20 World Cup title as they defeated England in the final. Carlos Brathwaite smacked Ben Stokes for four sixes in the final over of the game to clinch the title for his side.
| Shahid Afridi (c) | Sarfaraz Ahmed | Umar Akmal | Ahmed Shehzad | Sharjeel Khan |
| Shoaib Malik | Mohammad Hafeez | Khalid Latif | Imad Wasim | Mohammad Nawaz |
| Anwar Ali | Wahab Riaz | Mohammad Sami | Mohammad Amir | Mohammad Irfan |
Check out more 2021 T20 World Cup news here.
