Salman Agha’s reaction to Afghanistan’s second best team in Asia Cup leaves the internet in spills

Some think Pakistan isn’t in the running for the Asia Cup, judging by recent performance.

Pakistan’s cricket team has seen big changes recently. Salman Ali Agha is the T20I captain, leading a new team without Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

One Pakistani journalist pointed out that Afghanistan was Asia’s second best team at the T20 World Cup. Afghanistan got to the T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals, beating Australia and New Zealand.

With Salman Ali Agha leading the way, Pakistan’s cricket team has gone through some big changes recently as they get ready for the Asia Cup. The team wants to support a younger group with Agha as captain.

But Agha and his team have a chance to change opinions when they play Afghanistan and the UAE in a series starting Friday. Afghanistan is coming in strong after their T20 World Cup 2024 semifinal appearance, where they surprised Australia and New Zealand.

During a press conference, a Pakistani journalist mentioned that Afghanistan was the second-best team in the T20 World Cup, after India. Agha seemed annoyed by the remark. A video of it has been shared online.

This series is important practice for all three teams, who will get used to the UAE conditions before the Asia Cup. The timing is good since Pakistan and Afghanistan are in different groups for the main tournament. Pakistan is in Group A with India, Oman, and UAE, while Afghanistan is in Group B with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Hong Kong.

Pakistan is entering the event with Salman Ali Agha as captain, without Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. The team will depend on Fakhar Zaman, who has 1,949 T20I runs with a strike rate of 131.77.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf are leading the attack, hoping to do better after not playing well in seven recent T20I series, where they only won three.

Afghanistan will play Pakistan in the first game of the series on Friday, and then the UAE will play Pakistan the next day.