T20 World Cup 2026: Babar Azam’s Cousin Umar Akmal Takes Swipe, Then Makes U-Turn on Pakistan Batter

Pakistan batter Babar Azam’s lean patch with the bat has attracted a lot of criticism from the fans as well as the former cricketers with Umar Akmal also taking a dig at him after his innings against England. Babar only managed 25 off 24 in the t20 World Cup 2026 Super 8 fixture. 

Taking to Instagram, he reshared a highlight of his match-winning innings from Pakistan’s 2014 T20 World Cup match against Australia.

Akmal later clarified that his post wasn’t directed towards Babar. “I want to clarify that my aim was never to compare myself with Babar Azam. He is currently one of the top batters in the world, and I have great respect for his achievements. My intention was only to highlight that he is not naturally a middle-order batter in T20 cricket, as that position doesn’t fully suit his batting style. There was no comparison — just a point about role suitability in the format. It was just a fan repost and was not deliberately edited in any way,” Akmal wrote on X. 

Pakistan haven’t won any matches in the Super 8 stage and are now staring an exit from the World Cup. Their first match was washed out while Pakistan lost their encounter against England. Pakistan’s qualification now depend two scenarios. First, England should defeat New Zealand and second Pakistan should beat Sri Lanka with a bigger margin. 

New Zealand have three points at the moment. If Pakistan win against Sri Lanka who have already been eliminated, the Men in Green will go to three points but their NRR is much less than New Zealand. 

New Zealand’s NRR is +3.050 while Pakistan’s NRR is -0.461. Pakistan need England to beat New Zealand with a bigger margin as well.

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