Former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq has attributed the underwhelming performances of all-rounders Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to what he described as mismanagement and unrealistic expectations from head coach Mike Hesson.
The criticism comes after the Pakistan national cricket team failed to advance to the semi-finals, exiting the tournament following their inability to secure a decisive victory over the Sri Lanka national cricket team in their final Super Eights fixture. The early exit has triggered scrutiny of both Hesson and captain Salman Ali Agha, particularly regarding team balance and player utilisation.
Mushtaq questioned the clarity of roles assigned to Shadab and Nawaz, suggesting the team management failed to define their responsibilities effectively.
“There are different types of all-rounders in the world. There is a bowling all-rounder and there is a batting all-rounder and there is one complete all-rounder. I have mentioned it before also,” said Mushtaq on the show Tapmad.
He pointed to selection decisions and tactical deployment as factors that disrupted the team’s structure and weakened its bowling effectiveness.
“In the Pakistan team, whichever all-rounders were picked up from the resources, I think in the case of Shadab and Nawaz, what was their role? If you see the stats, who were their wicket-taking bowlers? First, Usman Tariq did not play initially, and we were told to pick him up, and you brought him. Then they brought Abrar Ahmed, a pure bowler.
“Your batting balance was getting disturbed because you had these two all-rounders in the form of Shadab and Nawaz, on whose batting and bowling you had belief on. Both Nawaz and Shadab have given performances in batting and bowling also. Right now, things are running patchy. At this position, coach xx was demanding both things from these two. That you have to bat at this spot and bowl at this role. And in bowling, both of them were not bowling in death overs. Nawaz would come to bowl in power play sometimes. In middle overs, Usman Tariq and now Abrar would bowl,” he added.
Statistically, neither player delivered consistently throughout the tournament. Shadab’s most notable contribution came in Pakistan’s group-stage win over Namibia, where he struck an unbeaten 36 and claimed three wickets. Nawaz, meanwhile, struggled for impact with the bat, scoring just 20 runs across five innings, though he managed seven wickets overall, including his best figures against England in the Super Eights.
Mushtaq further defended the duo by drawing comparisons with prominent international all-rounders, arguing that performance expectations must be viewed in context.
“What performance has Mitchell Santner had in the tournament? What’s the performance of Axar Patel? What’s the performance of Dunith Wellalage? How many wickets did they take? What I am saying is that Mike Hesson’s demand was these two will bat also and bowl too. He had belief in these two. When I was the head coach, the selection committee gave me the information that they are equally good. But their utilisation should have been good, things could have benefited better. Like they were given third over after the second over. Today they gave the third over to Naseem and the other day, they gave third over to Shadab against England,” Mushtaq opined.
Mushtaq’s remarks have added to the growing debate over Pakistan’s tactical decisions during the tournament, with questions being raised about role clarity, selection strategy, and the management of multi-skill players in high-pressure global events.
