T20 World Cup: How will Pakistan carry forward their bits-and-pieces campaign in the Super 8s?

First-timers? Pakistan’s showing against India on the 15th of February was abysmal. The disparity when it comes to skill between the two sides, while not insurmountable, is still sizeable — so much so that Pakistan needed to be a livewire buzzing at a 100 per cent if they wanted to compete at any substantial level. Which they did not do.

It is disingenuous to compare Pakistan to a band of people playing cricket for the first time, even if the opposition was, fittingly, a side with both superior skill and institutional leverage. But at points, it did feel like the team that showed up to play against India was playing the sport for the first time.

When you know a side is better than you, you need to do absolutely everything right. Pakistan did not. The bowling was wayward and inconsistent, even from the likes of Abrar Ahmed, who are less susceptible to the waywardness than others. And even though fans have come to expect the batting to be as predictably fragile as it was, the state of affairs against India was particularly bad.

(It should be noted that like the team of villagers, Pakistan did have a mystery spinner that batters typically struggle to read, but the ‘outperforming expectations’ comparison ends here).

In the team’s defence, Pakistan’s loss against India was massive and discouraging, but it wasn’t all-conclusive. A win against Namibia — which did end up coming — would secure them a spot in the next round, which it did.

The shuffle

Pakistan’s XI against Namibia had a gaping Abrar Ahmed shaped hole. While his figures in the match against India were a dismal wicketless 38 runs conceded in his three overs, it is important to note that out of all unfortunate performances in the India match, his was the most anomalous. Since the start of 2025, Abrar has averaged 18 with the ball in T20 international cricket, with standout performances in the Asia Cup and the series preceding the World Cup.