Salman Ali Agha has produced the perfect reply to his critics. Dropped from the Test squad, stripped of the T20I captaincy and sent home from the England tour just months ago, the 32-year-old returned to international cricket on Sunday and smashed a match-winning 107 off 90 balls as Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the opening match of the ODI tri-series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The story is trending per news coverage.
The innings — Agha's fourth ODI century and his fastest, reached in just 82 deliveries — was the centrepiece of a game that swung wildly before Pakistan's bowlers finished the job. Sri Lanka, chasing 306, were rolled for 268 in 48.1 overs after losing their last five wickets for a mere 15 runs. For Pakistan, the result was the ideal start to a seven-match tournament that also features England and serves as the build-up to the 2027 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in southern Africa.
A comeback written in a century
Few hundreds carry this much backstory. Agha's last three months had been miserable: after captaining Pakistan in the first Test of the England tour, he was sent home ahead of the third Test in August and then sacked as the T20I captain. Many players never recover from that kind of fall. Agha chose domestic cricket instead.
"These times come on you and I thought that I will go back in domestic cricket and make things right with my performances," Agha said after the match. He did exactly that — piling up runs including an unbeaten 300 in the President's Trophy — and earned his way back into the ODI squad on merit. After the game, he used the platform to make a broader point: "I think it's time to give domestic cricket the respect it deserves," he said, arguing that scoring runs at the domestic level is no easy task and that players who perform there deserve credit.
It was a message delivered in the strongest possible language: 10 fours and a six, at a strike rate of nearly 119, on a Rawalpindi surface that gave the bowlers almost nothing. The innings rescued Pakistan from a potentially damaging batting collapse and set up a total — 305 — that proved just enough.
How the match unfolded
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first, and for a while the decision looked inspired. Openers Fakhar Zaman (16) and Saim Ayub (7) fell cheaply, leaving Pakistan reeling at 32 for 2. Babar Azam steadied things with 45 off 57 balls and found support from debutant Saad Baig, whose 39 off 40 balls — with three fours and two sixes — announced him as a name to watch.
The defining partnership, though, was the 97-run stand between Agha and Hasan Nawaz (37 off 49 balls), which revived Pakistan from 118 for 4 to 215. Agha then anchored the tail-end effort with Arafat Minhas (18) before being dismissed with the score on 291. Pakistan's lower order could not add many more, and the team was bowled out for 305 in 49.5 overs — a score built almost entirely around Agha's brilliance.
Sri Lanka's Eshan Malinga was the pick of the attack with 4 for 46, while Asitha Fernando claimed 3 for 59 and Dilshan Madushanka picked up two. But on a placid surface, 305 was always going to test the chase.
Sri Lanka's brave chase — and the dramatic collapse
The chase began badly for Sri Lanka. Avishka Fernando fell in the sixth over, Kamindu Mendis made a fluent 44 before departing, and captain Kusal Mendis struggled to just 18 — leaving the visitors wobbling at 91 for 4 in the 20th over after Sahan Arachchige fell for 3.
Then came the fightback. Pavan Rathnayake and Janith Liyanage added 119 runs for the fifth wicket, transforming the contest. Rathnayake led the counterattack with an impressive 79, cracking two sixes and six boundaries, while Liyanage provided valuable support with a solid 60. At that point Sri Lanka looked well placed to challenge the target.
What followed was a collapse of startling speed. Once Rathnayake fell to Faheem Ashraf and Liyanage departed to Haris Rauf, the tail folded. Dasun Shanaka added an aggressive 28 off 18 balls, but when Shaheen Shah Afridi — the Pakistan captain — removed him, only 15 more runs came for the last five wickets. Shaheen finished with 3 for 55, while Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Faheem Ashraf shared two wickets apiece in a disciplined pace display.
Speaking after the game, Shaheen praised Agha's century and the fast bowlers' communication on a pitch he described as good for quick bowling. The hosts, he said, had planned to bat first and were targeting a total beyond 300 — a plan that depended entirely on Agha delivering.
The celebration that stole the show
If the century was the story, the celebration was the subplot everyone talked about. Agha marked his hundred with a distinctive, exuberant gesture that instantly became a talking point — and naturally, speculation swirled that it was aimed at the critics and selectors who had sidelined him.
Not exactly, Agha said. The celebration, he revealed, was for his young son. "I don't have time to send messages or try to prove people wrong. I love cricket, I love batting, and I love playing for Pakistan," he explained, adding that his son cheers in the same way when watching cricket on TV — so he decided to do the same. It was a warm, human footnote to a ruthless innings: for Agha, Sunday's hundred was a special moment for his little boy.
The tri-series ahead: England arrive, the World Cup looms
This is no ordinary home series. The ODI tri-series — Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka — runs from 18 to 31 October in a double round-robin format: each team plays the other two twice, and the top two sides meet in the final at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on 31 October. All seven matches are day-nighters starting at 1.30pm local time, with the first three in Rawalpindi and the rest in Lahore.
Pakistan face England at the same venue on 20 October, before Sri Lanka take on England on 22 October — then the tournament shifts to Lahore. For all three teams, the stated purpose is preparation for the 2027 Cricket World Cup in South Africa, and the form lines are intriguing: Pakistan have won three of their last four ODI series, including a 2-1 result against Australia; England arrive on the back of three consecutive ODI series wins; Sri Lanka recently beat the West Indies 1-0 in a three-match ODI series.
The captains' box reads Shaheen Shah Afridi, Harry Brook and Kusal Mendis. England will be without Jofra Archer — who managed just one wicket at an average of 121 in their recent home ODI series against Sri Lanka — and Jos Buttler, out with a hamstring injury, but they gain Adil Rashid and Sam Curran back from injury, with Mason Crane earning a maiden ODI call-up.
Why this win matters for Pakistan
Pakistan's ODI project has been in flux — leadership changes, form slumps, a rebuild of the batting order. Sunday's win offered something concrete: proof that the system's talent pipeline works. Saad Baig's composed debut, Hasan Nawaz's supporting role, the pace attack sharing the load evenly, and above all Agha's redemption arc — the domestic route from rock bottom to match-winner.
The big picture is a crowded cricket calendar where teams are sharpening their 50-over plans: Australia and South Africa are deep in the middle of their second Test in Gqeberha, and recent individual milestones — like Matt Renshaw's 190 in that same series — show the competition for World Cup squad places is already fierce.
At home, Pakistan's cricketers are playing with the country's politics in flux, and on Sunday they gave their supporters a rare, uncomplicated day: a century, a collapse, a win — and a celebration a little boy will remember.
Agha named Player of the Match. England are next on Tuesday. The tri-series is under way, and Pakistan's comeback man is its headline act. Sources: ICC (19 October 2026); AFP via Cricketnmore (19 October 2026); The News, Pakistan (19 October 2026); Geo Super (18 October 2026); Wisden tri-series guide (October 2026); CricStatsInt schedule (17 October 2026).