The massive sacking in the Test team during Pakistan's away Test series against England remains a fresh cut in the players' minds. Ahead of the final of the tri-nation ODI series between the Pakistan National Cricket Team and Sri Lanka National Cricket Team, Salman Ali Agha addressed the controversial shuffle done by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the recently played Test series against England.

On the eve of the Tri-nation series final, Salman Ali Agha mentioned that he would not like to see another massive sacking in the middle of any series.

PCB axed 7 cricketers from the Test team

During the 2026 T20 series against England, PCB surprisingly called off its seven cricketers from the series, including senior players like Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, and many others. The national cricket board, led by Mohsin Naqvi, also dismissed their head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul as the Test team's head coach and bowling coach.

The decision came amid the team's poor form in Pakistan. Later, it was revealed that the main reasons behind the drastic decision were not only related to their players' form or performance, but something beyond the game.

Following the axing, former Pakistan National Cricket Team captain and selector Misbah-ul-Haq resigned from his selector and academy consultant roles as well.

Salman Ali Agha on sacking seven cricketers in the middle of the England series

Whatever the reason might be, removing seven cricketers and the coaches with immediate effect had an effect on the players' minds. Months after the Test series, Salman Ali Agha told reporters that dropping players in the middle of a series is not something to relish.

"Dropping players midway through a series is not a good thing. I hope it won’t happen again in the future," Agha said on Friday in Lahore.

Unlike the team's performance in the Test series against England, on their home ground in the ongoing white-ball series, Pakistan has been in good form, displaying fantastic form with both bat and ball. Tomorrow, in the final match of the series against Sri Lanka, the Men in Green will be favourites to win the title.

Salman Ali Agha is hopeful to defeat Sri Lanka in the final

Salman Ali Agha believes that if the team could perform according to its true potential, then defeating Sri Lanka in the series decider will not be impossible. But there are concerns over the team's top order batters.

"If we play to our strengths, we can win the final comfortably," Salman said in the press conference.

"Our top order is not scoring runs the way it used to three or four years ago. Tomorrow is the final, and I hope it clicks."

Agha also expressed that despite a lot of criticism, Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam are among the best players in the One Day International format to date.

"Fakhar and Babar are among the best one-day players. They have won so many matches for Pakistan. Sometimes things do not go your way in cricket, and I think that is what is happening with them," Salman said.