T20 World Cup 2026: ‘Heart rates go up and down’ - Faheem Ashraf reflects on heroic cameo against Netherlands

It was a vintage display of Pakistan Cricket’s unpredictability in their ICC T20 World Cup 2026 opening encounter against Netherlands in Colombo. In the end, they won the match by three wickets and three balls to spare, thanks to a splendid innings by Faheem Ashraf. 

When 29 runs were required off 12 balls, the left-hander pulled off a miracle, hitting 24 runs in the penultimate over, and nailing a difficult chase. Reacting to the same, the all-rounder provided what was going through his mind during the chase. 

“We have been playing this brand of cricket for this past year. Heart rates go up and down, it's happened so many times before, we're used to it. Shaheen and I were talking about saving wickets, knew we could take down whatever in one over. When the ball is in the air, you just want the ball to land. Our efforts is to finish games as early as possible. But you have to hold your nerves in these situations," said Ashraf. 

He was named Player of the Match for his game-changing 29 off 11, which included three sixes. Chasing a modest total of 148, Pakistan were off to a decent start, but the wickets kept falling after that, with no other batter, including captain Salman Ali Agha, staying in the middle for too long. It was a crucial victory for Pakistan, with their clash against India still not confirmed. 

Salman Ali Agha credits Faheem Ashraf after batting collapse 

Pakistan captain, despite a rather disappointing outing, was pleased with the win. Speaking after the match, he opened up on Faheem’s cameo as well as his team’s performance. 

“With 148, I can take that any day. We batted well in the first 10 overs, but you have five, six bad overs, like if it's two, three bad overs, you get so far away from the game. But credit to obviously Faheem, the way he batted, I think he batted outstandingly well. (With the ball) I think we started well and we knew they were gonna come hard. But I think we pulled things really well,” he concluded. 

Pakistan will now face USA on February 10 at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo.