Pakistan batter Salman Ali Agha believes the the side have not yet displayed a complete team performance in the ongoing One-day International tri-nation series, and hopes the final against Sri Lanka in Lahore on Saturday is where it falls into place.

The hosts’ top-order has been notably starved of runs for the series, underscoring Pakistan’s underwhelming campaign with the bat.

“Sometimes all of your players don’t score runs. Our top order isn’t scoring runs at the moment, like they used to,” Salman said during a press conference on the eve of the match, adding that they have been key performing players for the team over the last few years.

“They haven’t performed like that in this series, but tomorrow is the final and we hope that they will.”

He added that Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, despite their current lean patch, have been Pakistan’s best players in ODI cricket over the last decade and that the duo were “second to none.”

“They know themselves what they need to do and what they need to work on,” Salman said. He added that Fakhar had almost always come good in knock-outs and high-stakes matches like tomorrow’s final, and was “hoping he will go big.”

Salman added that the team always discusses how to put up totals of more than 3oo, and that they needed to focus on converting innings of 50 or 6o runs to big hundreds to help them post the scores they were looking for.

The fragility of Pakistan’s top order is just one of the factors that have gone into the slightly unconvincing cricket the side has played in this series, even in the matches they have won.

Salman said that head coach Mike Hesson always emphasised playing the “perfect game”, where a team aces all of batting, bowling and fielding.

He admitted that Pakistan are yet to play one of those matches so far, with performances being punctuated with batting collapses, patches of underwhelming bowling, and “lapses” in the field.

He added that the win against England last Sunday, which was brought about on the back of a sensational 10th-wicket partnership between Shadab Khan and Haris Rauf, was one they “should have won much more easily.”

The 32-year-old added that the contributions from the young players Arafat Minhas, Hassan Nawaz and Saad Baig have been key in Pakistan’s wins, calling them “amazing and very talented players” who are the “future of Pakistan.”

When asked about what the team will seek to do to offset Sri Lanka’s incredibly strong record at Gaddafi Stadium, he said: “More than stats, it is how you play on the day that decides who will win.”

“Whichever team plays well will win.”

Pakistan have been under considerable scrutiny for the elements that have been lacking this series.

However, Salman does not believe those are for a lack of trying or seriousness, especially in response to criticism about him being too relaxed.

“I am playing for Pakistan, how is it possible that I will not be serious about it? I am part of the eleven people representing a population of 25 crore.”

“I made my debut at the age of 28 or 29, and I played domestic cricket for 10 years. I know how I have reached to this stage, and to reach this point and not take it seriously is beyond me.

“Yes, you can say that my shot selection in the last three games has not been what it should be, and I admit that and I am working on it.”

When asked about how much rope out-of-form players should be given in the side, he said a “decent amount of games” that would give them a chance to “overcome” periods of failure is crucial.

“To make runs in international cricket and be consistently successful is not an easy thing to do,” he said, adding that settling into it took time and youngsters brought into the side should be given ample opportunity.

Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of seven players, including their direct signing, for the 12th edition of the tournament, but any side exercising the full retention allowance will have to release a player from the highest price tier of the previous auction into the general player pool.

The provision, unanimously approved by all eight franchises at a tournament operations workshop at Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, is among the key regulations finalised ahead of the PSL 12 player auction scheduled for January 23.

The mandatory release of a top-tier player is aimed at ensuring the availability of elite talent to all franchises during the auction, while allowing teams to preserve a significant portion of their existing squads.

The deadline for player retentions has been set for January 13, ten days before the auction. The timing will allow franchises to assess performances in the National T20 Silver tournament, which will have concluded, and the ongoing National T20 Gold competition before making their final decisions.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said the arrangement would provide a “live, data-driven link” between domestic cricket and the PSL, giving players performing in the National T20 competitions an opportunity to attract franchise attention.

A domestic player in form during the National T20 Gold tournament could, according to the PCB, “force his way into franchise thinking in real time”.

The auction, which will be only the second in PSL history, will operate under a salary cap of Rs45 crore for each franchise. The cap will rise to Rs50.5 crore for a franchise that makes a direct signing for PSL 12, retains its direct signing from the previous season, or opts for both.

All franchises will also be required to spend a minimum of Rs36.5 crore on their squads.

The window for direct signings will remain open until November 23, 2026. Each franchise will be permitted to directly sign one marquee player who did not feature in either PSL 10 or PSL 11.

The regulations were finalised during a workshop chaired by PSL chief executive Salman Naseer, with all eight franchises reaching unanimous agreement after reviewing the auction rules clause by clause.

Discussions also covered direct signings, player retentions, trade windows, squad sizes and salary caps.

“What made today remarkable was not just what was agreed, it was how it was agreed,” Naseer said in a statement.

“Every franchise engaged with complete openness, the Auction rules were worked through line by line, and we finished with unanimous buy-in across all eight sides,” he added.

Naseer said the retention deadline had deliberately been aligned with the National T20 competitions to give domestic performers a genuine opportunity to influence franchise squad selections through their performances.

The PCB said more major announcements concerning PSL 12 would be made in the coming weeks.