Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been the key pillars to Pakistan’s batting lineup for a long time in all formats of the game. However, in recent times, their performances have dipped, and their poor run of form has coincided with Pakistan’s poor performance as a side as well. Former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez made a scathing attack on both the players alongside fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, whose performances have been quite underwhelming in recent times.
“Calling them key players would be wrong and unfair. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are not Pakistan cricket’s key players at the moment. Key players are those who win matches for Pakistan,” Hafeez said on his YouTube channel. “If we look at the past year and a half to two years, the players showing consistent performance are Salman Ali Agha, Saeem Ayub and Hasan Nawaz. Why aren’t we talking about them? They are the current players winning matches for Pakistan,” he added.
“I think Babar and Rizwan need to be concerned about their positions in the team. They need to prove themselves as good players first; key players come later. Both were good in the past, but now they are not delivering results,” he remarked. “Both need to be fully involved in the game, otherwise results won’t come. The same goes for Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, they are also not giving match winning performances for Pakistan,” he added.
“We should focus on players who can contribute for the next 10–15 years. Our media criticises one or two players and hypes one or two others, which is wrong. We need to talk about those who are actually performing,” he noted. “If we want to improve Pakistan cricket, those in the AC rooms and those executing plans on the ground must address these issues promptly,” he concluded.
