Former Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez has accused the players of using media for leaking fake injury reports to avoid playing in domestic cricket.
“I’m telling you this with deep regret, people get their own reports made up,” Hafeez said on Tapmad. “When they have to play domestic cricket, suddenly workload and injuries show up. When they don’t want to play a game in a league, in consecutive days, everything is fine.”
The right-handed all-rounder also added that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is not focusing on red-ball cricket.
“We’re not giving red-ball cricket the respect it deserves. Let me give you an example from red-ball cricket: your centrally contracted captain, he’s announced in Category D. What kind of respect is that for your red-ball cricket? … T20 cricket isn’t going to save Pakistan cricket, red-ball cricket will. You have to focus on domestic cricket and give importance to red-ball cricket. Tell these players: go and play red-ball cricket. If you don’t, you won’t get a central contract,” he said.
Pakistan had a disappointing run in the T20 World Cup 2026 after they crashed out in the Super 8 stage. The Men in Green needed to restrict Sri Lanka at 147. Despite having a good start, Pakistan failed to qualify as Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka hammered 76* off 31 to take the team closer to the target.
Sri Lanka needed 28 in the last over when Shanaka smashed 22 in the four balls before Shaheen Afridi bowled two dots to win the match for his side by 5 runs.
Earlier, Sahibzad Farhan struck a century while Fakhar Zaman scored 84. Pakistan team has been under the scrutiny for their performance in the World Cup and as per reports, skipper Salman Ali Agha and batter Babar Azam will be sacked from the T20Is.
Covering sports for fun. Cricket in whites remains the first love—the kind that teaches patience, rewards nuance, and tells stories over five days rather than five seconds.
