Pakistan’s T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has called for a more aggressive approach in the powerplay overs after a narrow five-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the tri-series opener at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, highlighting the team’s slow starts as a key weakness.
Zimbabwe’s young openers, Tadiwanashe Marumani and Brian Bennett, gave Pakistan a scare by racing to 59 without loss in the first six overs, marking Zimbabwe’s second-highest powerplay score against Pakistan in T20Is. Pakistan gradually regained control, limiting Zimbabwe to 147/8 on a tricky Rawalpindi pitch.
During the chase, Pakistan again struggled in the powerplay, slipping to 31/3. Contributions from Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz helped the team edge past Zimbabwe, but the narrow victory left the captain reflecting on areas for improvement.
Salman Ali Agha praised the spin attack for keeping Pakistan in the game and stressed the importance of starting strongly. “We need to start well — whether bowling or batting. In the powerplay, we have to be ruthless. That’s what I’m going to talk about with the boys,” he said.
With the next T20 World Cup on the horizon, Pakistan will need to address these early-innings struggles quickly. Their next challenge comes against Sri Lanka on Saturday at Rawalpindi, where powerplay performance could again decide the outcome of a closely contested match.
