Tanvir Ahmed: “Mohammad Haris, what kind of big player are you that in an interview you’re saying Babar Azam needs to improve his strike-rate? Brother, first build your own value, then say something about a world-class player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan pace bowler Tanvir Ahmed has blasted power-hitter Mohammad Haris for his remarks about batsman Babar Azam.
Haris had said Azam and Mohammad Rizwan “have delivered many performances for Pakistan”, but may not be meeting the standards in place right now.
“No doubt, Babar and Rizwan have delivered many performances for Pakistan, but when you want to set a benchmark, you need to give chances to the juniors,” he stated.
Tanvir did not like Haris’ comments one bit, pointing out that the 24-year-old from Peshawar should build his own value first before talking about big players in the Pakistan team.
“Mohammad Haris, what kind of big player are you that in an interview you’re saying Babar Azam needs to improve his strike-rate? Brother, first build your own value, then say something about a world-class player,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, as quoted by ARY News.
Azam and Rizwan were recently ignored for Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, the T20I series against the West Indies, and the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan.
The only series they have featured in lately was the three ODIs between Pakistan and the West Indies.
Azam accumulated 56 runs at an average of 18.66, while Rizwan struck 69 runs, which included a top score of 53, at an average of 23.
After the T20I tri-series against the UAE and Afghanistan, Pakistan took part in the 2025 Asia Cup, where they managed to make it to the final before losing to India.
Haris was part of the squad for the tournament and scored 131 runs in seven games, which included a top score of 66, at an average of 21.83 and a strike-rate of 133.67.
Pakistan are now taking on South Africa in a two-Test series, which Azam and Rizwan are featuring in.
The men in green are 1-0 up and will look to secure a 2-0 win in the ongoing 2nd Test in Rawalpindi.
Once the Test series concludes, Pakistan and South Africa will play three T20Is and three ODIs.
Pakistan squad for South Africa Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi