Former Pakistan pacer Junaid Khan has strongly criticized the captaincy of Salman Ali Agha following Pakistan’s defeat to Zimbabwe in the final T20I of their three-match series at Queens Sports Club on Thursday.
Pakistan’s bowlers had done well to claw back into the game after Zimbabwe raced to 70 runs in the first nine overs, taking regular wickets in the middle overs to reduce the hosts to 121/7. Zimbabwe needed 12 runs from the final over, with debutant Tinotenda Maposa and Tashinga Musekiwa at the crease.
However, Agha made the surprising call to give the ball to Jahandad Khan, a young all-rounder, rather than Hasnain, who has far more experience in pressure situations. Jahandad, who had shown promise earlier in the series, was unable to deliver in the crunch moment.
After being hit for a four and a six off the first two balls, the match slipped away from Pakistan, and Zimbabwe clinched a narrow victory.
Junaid Khan didn’t mince words when expressing his dissatisfaction with Agha’s captaincy on social media. “Poor captaincy,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “If Hasnain had overs left, he should’ve bowled the last over as he is more experienced rather than giving it to a youngster.”
Despite the criticism, Agha defended his own performance in the series. In the post-match presentation, the stand-in captain said, “I would have liked to score more runs, but yeah, I’m happy I’m contributing with bowling and as captain.” However, his comments did little to quiet the doubts surrounding his leadership decisions.
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