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Mohammad Hafeez criticizes Mike Hesson’s comments on Babar Azam’s strike rate and role within the Pakistan side.
Mike Hesson (Picture credit: AFP)
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has slammed men’s head coach Mike Hesson for his statement on Babar Azam before the continued Super-Eight clash against Recent Zealand. Hafeez said he went through that comment 15 times but didn’t understand in any respect.
Babar is the very best run-scorer within the format. Until a few years ago, with the T20 trends being of tricky, sporty wickets, he thrived as an opener. Nonetheless, after repeated failures on the position, especially in his failure to bat at an impactful strike-rate at the highest of the order, he has been assigned the No. 4 role under skipper Salman Ali Agha in the continued ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“He made an announcement on Babar Azam that I didn’t understand,” Hafeez said on the show Game On Hai. “He said neither he’s a powerplay batter because his strike rate is 100… I read this statement 15 times, but I didn’t understand, which is why I’m asking you, because you might be like an elder brother, possibly you’ll understand. He said that Babar can’t bat in the primary six overs, because his strike-rate is sort of low; he gave that stat, nor could he bat after the tenth over. Toh vo khel kyu raha hai? (Why is he playing?) he added.
Within the group stage, Babar managed 15 off 18 against the Netherlands, 46 off 32 versus the USA, and 5 off 7 against India, triggering debate over each his form and his repositioning within the batting order. Within the match against Namibia, he was asked to not bat in any respect.
“I feel he’s well aware that his strike rate within the powerplay in (T20) World Cups is lower than 100. So clearly, that’s not a task that we predict here we’d like. We expect he’s a high quality player through the center, if required, by way of if we’re in a little bit little bit of trouble. Or as we saw against the USA, once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate at that time. So, we brought Babar back in for a selected role post the Asia Cup. We wanted some batsmanship through the center, and he definitely brings that for us,” Heson said.
February 21, 2026, 21:04 IST
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