Agha Highlights Fielding Ahead of T20 World Cup

Jan 8, 2026 - 16:00

The national team started its preparations towards the ICC Men T20 World Cup 2026 and the captain of the Pakistan cricketing team Salman Ali Agha has urged the team to fix fielding standards by emphatically defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets. Pakistan will have their group matches in Sri Lankan conditions as the tournament, intended to be a joint host of India and Sri Lanka, is planned between February 7 and March 8.

It was an all-round game and the former champions gave a disciplined performance by sending the hosts home with 128 in 19.2 overs in the first T20I match hosted at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium. Bowlers of Pakistan took advantage of the initial support and left-arm pacer Salman Mirza and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed took three wickets each. Mohammad Wasim Jr and Shadab Khan in aid of it made sure that Sri Lanka never got a momentum despite the fighting 40 of Janith Liyanage.

Pursuing a small goal, Pakistan sailed to the triumph with 20 balls to spare, with an aggressive half-century by opening batsman Sahibzada Farhan. Agha however pointed out that the outcome was greatly dependent on the condition especially dew, which made batting simpler during the second session.

Agha had not anticipated this much dew due to previous weather in the day before the match. After five or six overs the ball got wet and then all was different.

Though the victory was comfortable the captain was not thinking about the short-term success but long-term goals. As the T20 world cup is about to happen, Agha emphasized that the greatest worry of Pakistan is their performance in terms of fielding.

We are the World Cup participants, he said. But fielding is one we have to improve on in case we want to compete on a regular basis.

The rest of the series matches will be viewed as a trial ground as Pakistan tests various combinations and sharpens the execution in view of the global tournament.