Mohammad Hafeez: “He (Babar) has no player of the series awards in SENA countries. Forget about winning or losing; you should aim to be the player of the series”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has taken aim at batsman Babar Azam for his lack of strong performances in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA).
He noted that if Azam wants to be recognised as an elite cricketer, he has to score runs against these teams and win player of the series awards.
The 30-year-old has failed to score runs regularly for the men in green for a long time, but has shown flashes of his best sporadically.
During the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, he amassed 62 runs in three matches at an average of 20.66.
Azam then represented Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy and accumulated 87 runs in two games, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
“He (Babar) has no player of the series awards in SENA countries. Forget about winning or losing; you should aim to be the player of the series,” Hafeez was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand and India in the Champions Trophy, which led to them getting eliminated in the group stage.
Their final match against Bangladesh was washed out, meaning they failed to win a single game throughout the tournament.
Pakistan will now embark on a tour of New Zealand, where they will play five T20Is and three ODIs from March 16 to April 5.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir