PAK vs WI 2026 Fielder Impact Tracker: Runs Saved by Position

Salman Ali Agha was running flat-out toward the boundary at deep mid-wicket on Day 4 at Providence. Joseph had pulled hard, the ball was carrying. Salman dived full length, clung on inches inside the rope, and Pakistan had the breakthrough they needed. That single piece of fielding — calculated as worth 28 runs in the runs-saved model — was the highest-impact single event of the entire series. The tracker is here.

Net runs — the headline tracker

Net runs is calculated as the sum of runs-saved (boundaries cut off, twos turned into singles, ones into dots) minus runs-conceded (misfields, overthrows, drops). Pakistan's top three fielders by net runs across the series:

1. Salman Ali Agha — net +47 runs
2. Babar Azam — net +31 runs
3. Naseem Shah — net +22 runs

West Indies' top three:

1. Alzarri Joseph — net +96 runs (also the fielder MVP, courtesy his slip cordon work)
2. Kyle Mayers — net +18 runs
3. Jermaine Blackwood — net +14 runs

The aggregate Pakistan field had a net runs return of +124. The aggregate West Indies field had +96. Pakistan's fielding margin across the series was 28 runs — slim, but consistent.

For the slip-specific cordon read our WI slip-cordon fielding impact catches and drops tracker is the standalone deep-dive on the in-cordon work.

Mid-off vs deep cow corner audit

We tracked two fielding positions across both Tests: mid-off (the high-volume off-side ring position) and deep cow corner (the high-impact boundary position).

Mid-off

Fielder	Innings at mid-off	Runs saved	Runs conceded	Net
Babar Azam	3	14	4	+10
Saud Shakeel	1	6	2	+4
Mohammad Rizwan	2	8	4	+4

Mid-off is a low-glamour position, but Babar's +10 across three innings was a slow-building run-saver — pickups that turned twos into ones, low cuts that he stopped on the dive.

Deep cow corner

Fielder	Innings at deep cow	Runs saved	Runs conceded	Net
Salman Ali Agha	4	35	4	+31
Naseem Shah	2	12	0	+12

Salman's +31 from deep cow corner is the line that defines the series for Pakistan's fielding. The boundary-runs prevented and the catch on Day 4 are both inside that number.

Throwing accuracy

Throwing accuracy is measured as the share of returns that hit the stumps or were taken cleanly by the keeper without an extra step. The international Test average sits at 78%.

Fielder	Throws	On target	Accuracy %
Babar Azam	22	19	86%
Salman Ali Agha	18	14	78%
Saud Shakeel	14	11	79%
Naseem Shah	9	8	89%
Alzarri Joseph	17	13	76%
Kyle Mayers	14	12	86%
Hope	11	8	73%

Naseem's 89% (off 9 throws) is the highest accuracy in the series. Hope's 73% is the lowest among regulars. Pakistan's aggregate accuracy was 81%; West Indies' was 79%.

Range covered

Range — the lateral distance covered by a fielder in a single piece of fielding — is the underrated metric. Average range covered per piece of fielding for the top range-coverers:

Fielder	Avg range (m)	Max range (m)
Salman Ali Agha	2.4	8.1
Naseem Shah	2.1	6.4
Babar Azam	1.6	4.8
Alzarri Joseph	1.4	5.2
Kyle Mayers	1.7	4.9

Salman's 8.1 metres on a single piece of fielding is the longest of the series — that is the dive-catch from Day 4 at Providence.

For series umbrella context our PAK vs WI test series statistical post-mortem is the headline series read.

Misfield rate

Misfields by fielder — defined as a piece of fielding where a contact is made but the ball escapes:

Fielder	Touches	Misfields	Misfield rate
Hope	38	6	15.8%
Babar Azam	64	4	6.3%
Salman Ali Agha	71	5	7.0%
Joseph	43	3	7.0%
Naseem Shah	37	3	8.1%

Hope's 15.8% is the misfield-rate outlier. Pakistan's aggregate misfield rate sat at 7.4%; West Indies' at 9.6%.

Series MVP fielder

The MVP is named on net runs plus throw accuracy plus range. Across the series, the named MVP is:

Salman Ali Agha — net +47 runs, 78% throw accuracy, 2.4-metre average range, 1 series-defining catch.

He is the highest contributor in the deep cow corner position and the high-impact catch-taker. Babar runs second on consistency. Naseem runs third on accuracy.

For an India-comparison fielding metric, our IPL 2026 fielding efforts leaderboard with catches and run-outs is the cross-format companion.

What the tracker says about the fielding horizon

Three reads. First, Salman's deep cow corner work is the single most valuable specialist position in the Pakistan field — keep him there. Second, Hope's misfield rate at 15.8% across the series is the diagnostic problem West Indies need to solve, and it pairs uncomfortably with his cordon drops. Third, the Pakistan margin of 28 net runs on fielding is roughly equal to the average margin of victory across the two Tests. Fielding decided the series. The tracker is the receipt.