Shahid Afridi of Pakistan. Satish Kumar / The National
Shahid Afridi of Pakistan. Satish Kumar / The National

World Twenty20 team guide: Pakistan



Five things to know about the Pakistan team to play at the World Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh

National attention

Bomb blasts, a weak economy and continual changes within the game’s national governing body become mere minor distractions for Pakistan’s cricket-mad population of 190 million whenever the team participates in major tournaments.

With the cricket world shying away from touring Pakistan since a 2009 terror attack, cricket-starved fans will be closely following the World T20 and hoping for victory – particularly against arch-rival India.

Expect the unexpected

No matter how hard the opposition studies any weak links in the Pakistan team, they are seldom prepared for what they face in match conditions.

On any given day Pakistan’s skills can surprise the strongest teams in the world, but then come the inexplicable losses to weaker teams.

Shahid Afridi

The power hitting of Afridi can tear apart any bowling attack, as he showed during the recent Asia Cup with his two blistering knocks against India and Bangladesh.

The enigmatic all-rounder has teammates and fans worried as he strives to recover from a hamstring injury in time to play against two tough group rivals – India and Australia.

Bowled over

Bowling has been the mainstay of Pakistan’s set up in the three formats of the game. The bowling attack for this tournament includes T20’s top three wicket-takers in Saeed Ajmal (81), Umar Gul (74) and Afridi (73).

The three contributed to Pakistan’s victory in the 2009 World T20, their run to the 2007 final and to the semi-finals in 2010 and 2012. Fast bowler Junaid Khan and captain Mohammad Hafeez also give extra impetus to the Pakistan attack.

Batting weakness

Pakistan is yet to find a replacement for hard-hitting Misbah-ul-Haq, who quit international T20s in 2012 but still – at age 39 – represents his hometown in domestic tournaments.

A relatively inexperienced Pakistan top order has struggled against quality bowling, forcing selectors to recall Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal for the Bangladesh event.

The absence of Pakistan players from the world’s richest domestic league, the Indian Premier League, also deprives them of an opportunity to sharpen their skills against the world’s quality bowlers.

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MATCH INFO

FA Cup final

Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)

Manchester United 0

Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

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TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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