Rashid Latif: “We have our big players in Babar, Shaheen, Haris, Rizwan and Fakhar”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has named Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf as the “big players” in the team.
All of them recently featured in Pakistan’s limited overs tour of New Zealand, with Azam scoring 129 runs in the three-match ODI series, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Rizwan, who is Pakistan’s ODI captain, made 72 runs at an average of 24.
As for Afridi, he only featured in the five-match T20I series and took two wickets in four games at an average of 66.50 and an economy rate of 10.23.
Rauf claimed eight wickets in four T20Is at an average of 12.25 and an economy rate of 7.53 before going on to pick up three wickets in two ODIs at an average of 37.66.
Zaman, meanwhile, was not selected for the New Zealand tour as he was recovering from an injury.
“We have our big players in Babar, Shaheen, Haris, Rizwan and Fakhar,” Latif told IANS as quoted by NDTV.
After the New Zealand tour, Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and made 288 runs in 10 matches, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Rizwan led the Multan Sultans and finished with 367 runs in 10 games, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 52.42 and a strike-rate of 139.54.
Afridi was in charge of the Lahore Qalandars, while Rauf and Zaman were part of the team as well.
Afridi was the highest wicket-taker in PSL 10 as he claimed 19 wickets in 13 games at an average of 16.42 and an economy rate of 7.76.
Rauf was the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 25.70 and an economy rate of 10.28.
As for Zaman, he was the second-highest run-scorer in the tournament with 439 runs in 13 games, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 33.76 and a strike-rate of 152.96.
After PSL 10, Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but Azam, Rizwan and Afridi were left out of the squad.
Rauf snapped up one wicket in two matches at an average of 59 and an economy rate of 11.80.
Zaman also featured in the series, scoring one run in the one game he played.
Pakistan defeated Bangladesh 3-0.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub