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Former batter Mohammad Hafeez thinks Babar Azam’s lack of intent played a key part in Pakistan getting off to a losing start in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Notably, Babar struggled to speed up the team’s run rate in a chase of 320, scoring 64 off 90 balls at a strike rate of 71.11. His innings comprised 52 dot balls, which has sparked his criticism on social media and news channels.
Although, Khushdil Shah (69 off 49) and Salman Ali Agha (42 off 28) tried well, the Men in Green were eventually bowled out for 260 and lost the game by 60 runs
In the post-match analysis, Hafeez noted Babar Azam’s accomplishments in international cricket, but slammed him for his unimpressive half-century, which as per him cost the match to Pakistan.
“Babar is a top player. He has almost scored 18 to 20 thousand runs in the international cricket. He is one of the most accomplished cricketer in this current Pakistan cricket team,” Hafeez said on PTV Sports.
“Today he scored a fifty and he looked satisfied. Pakistan lost a game. He scored a fifty and we were not even close to win the game,” he continued.
“If he would have scored this half-century with an intent, if the knock would have took the game forward then it is good. But this half-century has cost the match to Pakistan team,” Hafeez concluded.
Cheteshwar Pujara feels Babar Azam lacked in footwork against spinners
Indian batter Cheteshwar Pujara also shared his take on Babar Azam’s knock in the Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand.
Pujara feels Babar didn’t show any intent and was not confident with his footwork against the spinners.
“There was no intent,” Pujara said on the show “Dressing Room.”
“Babar’s footwork against the spinners was not good. He was not using his feet. He was not reaching to the ball. He was waiting for the ball to come to him,” he added.
Pujara further added that Babar Azam should have opted to play a sweep shot, paddle sweep or reverse sweep, which is currently used by the batters to score runs and disturb the lengths of bowlers.
“In one-day cricket, you need to bat with freedom, he is a natural stroke player. He needs to bat with more freedom. He needs to rotate strike and hit those odd boundaries. In the present time the strike rate of 70 and 80 are not good enough.”
Babar Azam will next be seen in action against India on February 23 in Dubai, which will now be a must-win game for Pakistan.
