Salman Agha Called Out, Family Faces Abuse From Fans

Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the Super 8s of the 2026 ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. In its second Super 8 match, it lost to England by two wickets. Pakistan captain, Salman Agha, took the loss on his chin.

However, cricket fans are not being as graceful about the loss.

Things escalated to the point where Agha’s wife took to social media to call out the fans she claims are sending her and her family terrible messages. Adding salt to the wound are cricket analysts who believe Agha’s captaincy of the Pakistan National Cricket team should be over, claiming that he is not “captaincy material.”

Salman Agha’s Wife, Sabba Manzer, Calls Out Online Abuse

While Agha took his cricket loss in stride (more on that later), some fans have responded much, much differently. In her Instagram stories, Sabba Manzer called out fans who were sending her family terrible messages.

“Sending me or my innocent son abuse is not going to win you the World Cup pakistani fans,” she wrote in a story posted on her Instagram profile.

Unfortunately for Manzer and her son, this is not the first time a family of a professional athlete has received threatening messages. The families and spouses of NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB players have all been sent similar messages following disappointing losses.

Salman Agha Not ‘Captaincy Material’

Following their loss to England, Agha’s captaincy of the national cricket team has been called into question. Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar shared a scathing review of Agha as Pakistan’s captain in the T20 World Cup.

“Looking at him tactically, he is not captaincy material,” Akhtar said on the Game on Hai show. “He was forced into the role as a ‘make-shift’ arrangement, and now the reality is right in front of you. How many more mistakes will he make? I don’t think he is cut out for this job as a captain.”

“And if you are expecting a miracle from him, or comparing him to someone like Harry Brook—I am so sorry.”

They went on to call out specific choices that Agha made during the match. In particular, how Agha utilized mystery spinner Usman Tariq. However, the criticisms went a step further.

“What will happen is that the entire blame will now be shifted onto Salman Agha. The management will quietly slip away…this is exactly why you pick a ‘weak’ person for the job. You want weak people in high positions so that when it’s time to fire someone, you can easily pin the blame on them.”

Salman Agha Takes Loss Gracefully

Unlike some fans and commentators, Agha took the loss to England gracefully. He even went so far as to compliment his opponents.

“Some days you have to give credit to other batters,” Agha said following the 166/8 to 164/9 loss. “I think Harry batted brilliantly. Our score was a bit short. And then Brook took the game away from us. We threw everything at him. Whenever we play against England and lose, it’s always him.”

“Have to say hats off to him and the way he batted today. Very challenging, the way he batted.”

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