Salman Ali Agha: “I was given the captaincy for this very reason because I had the ability”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Salman Ali Agha said he was appointed T20I captain “because I had the ability”.
Under his leadership, the men in green have enjoyed positive results, including a recent 3-0 whitewash of Australia in Lahore.
However, it still hasn’t silenced some of his critics, who continue to question if the 32-year-old is the right choice for the captaincy and whether he even belongs in the T20I side.
Salman, however remains unfazed, noting he has gained valuable experience and a deeper understanding of his game since taking charge of the national team.
“I was given the captaincy for this very reason because I had the ability. Perhaps initially there was pressure of captaincy on me, but now I have been captaining for several months. I have started to understand my batting and captaincy,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Salman is currently leading Pakistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup, where the men in green started off with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and United States of America before losing to India.
In those three games, the Lahore native scored 17 runs at an average of 5.66 and a strike-rate of 113.33.
He has also taken one wicket at an average of 10 and an economy rate of five.
Pakistan’s next match will be against Namibia on February 18 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq