Mohammad Hafeez: “Babar and Rizwan are quality players… They just need to upgrade their approach and skills to become more impactful. They have the talent to do that”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez believes Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan need to “become more impactful”.
In order to do this, he recommended that they “upgrade their approach and skills”.
Azam and Rizwan have been criticised for batting too slow in international cricket, especially in T20Is, where both players appear to have lost their places in the squad.
However, Hafeez is confident that the duo can make the necessary changes needed as “they have the talent to do that”.
“Babar and Rizwan are quality players… They just need to upgrade their approach and skills to become more impactful. They have the talent to do that,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam and Rizwan recently featured in Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand, with the former scoring 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
As for Rizwan, who is Pakistan’s ODI captain, he made 72 runs at an average of 24.
Following this, Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and amassed 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Rizwan, meanwhile, led the Multan Sultans and finished with 367 runs in 10 matches, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 52.42 and a strike-rate of 139.54.
After PSL 10, Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but neither Azam nor Rizwan were part of the team.
The men in green won the series 3-0.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a tour of Bangladesh, where they will play three T20Is in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
Once again, Azam and Rizwan were left out of the squad.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem