Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 – Pakistan ‘defeated ourselves’ against Bangladesh – Wahab

Chasing a modest target of just 124 runs to win, Pakistan were seemingly on track at the 10-over mark, needing just a run-a-ball to win, with eight wickets in hand. ESPNcricinfo’s win predictor rated Pakistan’s chances of victory at that stage at 90%. What followed was the stuff of nightmares.

Only 36 runs were scored off the remaining ten overs, with Pakistan losing a further six wickets to end up with a disappointing 100 for 8. No boundaries were scored after the end of the eighth over. The turnaround left Wahab almost speechless.

“When you are 72 for 2 in 12 overs, [needing] just six runs in an over, and then suddenly – I have no answer for that, to be very honest,” Wahab said in the post-match press conference. “I think we have defeated ourselves, and the credit goes to the Bangladesh team that they kept their nerves. I think the credit goes to them.”

“I think they bowled well, but there was not that much of spin or grip or turn on the wicket which have created problems for you,” Wahab said. “I think it’s just the execution. You cannot do it.

“You should have taken the game two-three overs before that. The game should have been finished three overs before the time. But if you’re letting the things go and you’re not scoring runs, then any opposition is going to catch you and things will be difficult for you.”

Batting collapses have been a common trend for Pakistan during this campaign. In their first match against India, the last seven wickets fell for 31 runs. Against South Africa, they collapsed to 50 for 8 before Fatima Sana and Tuba Hassan’s 71-run stand for the ninth wicket rescued them. Here, they slipped from 49 for 0 to 84 for 8, the last six of those wickets falling for just 14 runs.

“It is very disappointing to be out of the World Cup because I still think that no other team has beaten [us]. It’s you yourself who has got beaten by the other teams. I think it is a big difference when the other teams try to put up a good show and they beat you. But I think unfortunately in all the last three games, we were not up to the mark”

Wahab Riaz

“It’s not a good sign, to be very honest,” Wahab said of the collapses, “because you’ve been working hard for this for the last four or five months, and we’ve been scoring runs, and suddenly coming into the games, it’s just the execution.

“You’re getting each and everything that’s required for your preparation. It has to be the player who has to go in and do their [job] – the plans are very simple, it’s very easy.”

Wahab put the onus on Pakistan’s senior players to step up and take responsibility. “I think everybody who will be watching, even we were thinking that we are going on at the right pace with the right runs on the board. But suddenly again, it’s a collapse.

“I think the senior players have to take responsibility. You cannot let them go away like this, that they come in and they need to read the situation well. It was just six an over. It was under six an over, I would say. But again, the execution is not right. They have to take the responsibility. The players have to step up.”

Wahab added that ultimately, chasing a modest total, Pakistan’s batters needed to be more sensible in their shot selection. “I don’t believe that it was a game where you have to smash the ball in the air. It was just [that] you need to be more sensible, I would say. It is just being more sensible about the game, [and] how you have to take this game away.”

In recent times, Sana’s batting down in the lower order has often dug Pakistan out of a hole, her 55 not out at No. 8 against South Africa the most-recent example. In 2026, the Pakistan captain has scored 363 T20I runs at an average of 60.50, striking at 166.51. But even she couldn’t stop the slide against Bangladesh, scoring just 10 off 17 balls having been promoted up to No. 6.

Is there complacency from Pakistan’s top order, expecting Sana will bail them out and get the job done? Wahab said this can’t be the mindset.

“See, it is not about the expectations, it’s about the courage or the skills she has,” Wahab said. “So it’s not about that Fatima will save you in each and every game.

“As I always say, cricket is about 11 players or 15. It’s not about one individual. So you cannot expect the same things going again and again by one individual. It has to be a combined effort from the team.”

Pakistan have two remaining group fixtures against Australia and Netherlands, with only pride to play for. It is the manner of Pakistan’s early exit that has upset Wahab the most.

“It is very disappointing to be out of the World Cup because from our point of view, I still think that no other team has beaten [us]. It’s you yourself who has got beaten by the other teams.

“I think it is a big difference when the other teams try to put up a good show and they beat you. But I think unfortunately in all the last three games, we were not up to the mark and it was us who has given the games away.”

As Pakistan’s team mentor, it’ll be down to Wahab and Pakistan’s coaching staff to help reinvigorate the players, in the hope they can go home with their heads held high.

“We’ve been asking the players what they are looking at, what they are feeling, so we can get things better and better,” Wahab said. “If it’s the practice, if it’s something you mentally need to talk or sit and have a chat about. We are doing all those things.

“We are doing one-to-one sessions. We are talking to the players. We are telling them about game situation, about game awareness. We are giving them the practices, what is required. At the end of the day, it has to be the player.”