The T20 World Cup is down to its final four, and the two semi-finals lined up at The Oval promise to be absorbing contests. Australia face West Indies on June 30, with England and South Africa following two days later. For Pakistan cricket watchers, the knockout stage carries particular weight — the national side’s own T20 ambitions are measured against how these heavyweight nations perform at the business end of tournaments.
Pakistan vs India is the most-watched fixture in world cricket. Estimated TV audiences for the bilateral games of the 1990s and 2000s and the ICC-tournament games of the 2010s and 2020s have routinely topped 500 million worldwide. The cricket is one part of the story. The politics is the other.
Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is Pakistan cricket’s grandest venue. Capacity 27,000, completed in 1959, renovated multiple times across the decades, and the home ground of the Lahore Qalandars PSL franchise. For Pakistan international cricket, it is the venue every Test side wants to play at and the one most touring captains lose sleep over.
Mohammad Rizwan is the player Pakistan cricket leans on when it cannot afford to lose. As Pakistan’s T20I captain, as Multan Sultans’ captain across multiple PSL seasons, and as the team’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, he is the central figure in two of the country’s three white-ball units.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is the player every Pakistani academy now models its left-arm fast bowlers on. He is also the one who, when fit and rhythmic, gives Pakistan the new-ball strike threat that defines great Test attacks. The “when fit” part has been the conversation around him since 2022.
Babar Azam is the most accomplished batter Pakistan has produced since Mohammad Yousuf. Across formats, across captains, across coaching staffs and PCB regimes, he has been the one constant the team builds around. Two years past his Pakistan captaincy he is still, by most metrics, the country’s best batter.