Before the Tri-Nation Series, Pakistani captain Salman Ali Agha was asked if his team had any weaknesses
29 August 2025
Live stream TV Tri-Nation T20 series is going to start in the United Arab Emirates tonight, in which the cricket teams of Pakistan and Afghanistan, in addition to the host team, are participating.

On Thursday, a day before the start of the series, the captains of the three teams held a joint press conference and answered questions from journalists.

During this, at one point, a journalist mentioned in his question to Afghan captain Rashid Khan that his team is the ‘second best team in Asia’, to which Pakistani captain Salman Agha smiled.

Later, Salman Agha commented that who is at what number, everyone can have their own opinion and everyone has the right to have their own opinion.

When asked if he would name any one player who could perform well in this series, he said, “It would be difficult to name one. I am satisfied with our preparation.”

Afghan captain Rashid Khan said that Afghanistan has performed well in ICC tournaments over the last four years.

“We haven’t played that many T20Is in the last few months but the boys have participated in many leagues around the world.

Rashid Khan said that the batsmen played a key role in the success against teams like Pakistan and Australia.

After the initial discussion, a series of questions from the journalists started. A journalist asked Rashid Khan, ‘Your team played very well in the T20 World Cup, you became the second best team in Asia. What are your goals for this tri-series and the Asia Cup?’

Rashid Khan and Salman Agha smiled at this question.

Rashid said in his reply, ‘We don’t have any specific goal. This is extra pressure… Our goal is only to play the same cricket that you have been playing for the past years. The goal is to work 200 percent on the ground.

Another journalist asked, “The last time you played a match against Pakistan here, there was unrest among the fans. What message do you have for them?”

Rashid Khan replied, “This game unites people. We bring people and countries together. It is a message of peace. Those who come to watch the match should support their team and players and enjoy it.”

When asked if they are the ‘favourites’ in this series, he replied, “Things keep happening in the media. We should not confuse things. We have to focus on what we have achieved in the past years, the success we have had.”

“Every team is a favourite. The day you play well, you are a favourite. It is not that the favourite team will always win. If you do not make the right decision at the right time, you will lose, no matter who it is.”

Rashid Khan said, “There is no favourite team in T20. One or two players can change the whole match.’

Then a journalist asked UAE captain Mohammad Wasim, ‘All three of you teams have played home matches here, but you are the real home team, so how will you get a home advantage, what will be your strategy?’

The three captains laughed at this and Wasim replied, ‘This is the home ground for all three teams.’

A journalist also asked Rashid Khan, ‘Who is on your radar in the Asia Cup this time?’ To which he smiled and replied, ‘Who do you want?

The journalist asked, “Will you win against India?” Rashid replied, “We don’t take extra pressure that we have to target a specific team.”

The Pakistani captain was also asked, “Former cricketers and journalists are not expecting much from the team. Maybe the reason for this is the performance in the previous tournaments… Are the fans and cricketers angry with the Pakistani team? It is being deliberately said that we are third or fourth in Asia.”

Salman Agha replied, “This is the opinion of the people… We don’t think about this as a team. We have to play good cricket and win matches. Everyone has the right to have an opinion, we don’t care about their opinion.”

In response to a question, he also said, “I don’t think we have any weakness. We are improving day by day.

‘Facial expressions speak louder than words’

Fans have had mixed reactions to the series, but clips of the press conference ahead of today’s match are being shared on social media.

One user wrote that ‘Salman Ali Agha’s facial expressions speak louder than his words.’

Many users wanted to remind the Pakistani captain that he had recently lost the series against Bangladesh.

A user named Babar advised that ‘In cricket, you should always look confident… you can’t win by making such faces.’

Many users also wanted to link the issue to the absence of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in the squad.

It should be noted that this tri-nation will start with a match between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

If we look at the ICC T20 rankings, Pakistan is eighth and Afghanistan is ninth, while the United Arab Emirates is 15th.

Despite this, it is expected that there will be a tough competition between the three teams in this series.