India, Feb. 7 -- Pakistan batter Babar Azam came under harsh scrutiny on live television on Saturday following his dismissal in the T20 World Cup 2026 opener against the Netherlands at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo. The former champions survived an early scare in their campaign, chasing down 148 with three balls to spare and three wickets in hand.

At the halfway stage of the chase, Pakistan were well placed at 90 for two, riding on Sahibzada Farhan's fluent 47 off 31 balls. However, Paul van Meekeren turned the game on its head in the 12th over with a double-wicket maiden, removing Farhan and Usman Khan in the space of three deliveries.

The pressure mounted immediately in the following over when Roelof van der Merwe dismissed Bab...