'Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan don’t listen to Mike Hesson' - Ex-Pakistan star makes shocking exposé

Former Pakistan National Cricket Team player Basit Ali has made a shocking claim about the superstar batters Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.

Basit Ali claimed that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan do not listen to the Pakistan coaches, including white-ball head coach Mike Hesson, and they are playing the way they want to.

Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan struggled in West Indies ODIs

The 30-year-old Pakistan superstar Babar is currently in the phase of his career where he should be at the peak of his powers and deliver consistent performances for his team in international cricket, but that is not the case.

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For the last few years, he has been struggling with the bat and has not been able to perform in any format for Pakistan, which has even led to his axing.

From being the World No.1 to a struggling batter, there has been a steep decline in his career, and in the recent three-match ODI series against West Indies, he looked horrible.

Babar Azam registered scores of 47, 0, and 9 across three innings, and he is averaging 30.36 in ODIs this year, with just three fifties to his name.

Talking about the Pakistan ODI skipper, Mohammad Rizwan, he has not been doing any good with the bat either. In three matches against West Indies, he returned with scores of 53, 16, and 0 as Pakistan lost the series.

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Ab inse bas advertisements kara lo - Basit Ali

During a discussion on The Game Plan, Basit Ali said that Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam are good for nothing and are currently being dragged by the team management because of their past performances.

He added that Babar and Rizwan are busy doing advertisements instead of focusing on cricket, and they urgently need a wake-up call from legendary cricketers because they don't take coaches seriously.

“They're living up to the performances they did during the beginning of their careers. Ab inse bas advertisements kara lo (Let them just do ads now),” Basit said.

"They don't listen to the coaches. Whatever the batting coaches say, they just keep pretending to listen to them. They need someone who can give them a wake-up call, like Inzamam, Yousuf, or a Younis Khan. And they know there's no one who would do that, because they didn't let anyone do it before.”

I can guarantee that I haven't seen ego in him - Kamran Akmal

Former Pakistan cricketer Kamran Akmal was not on the same page with Basit Ali when the latter stated Babar Azam is egoistic and needs to keep his ego aside.

Kamran Akmal said that Babar is quite respectful to others off the field, and he just needs to ensure that he "doesn't act bigger than the game" when he enters the field for Pakistan.

“I can guarantee that I haven't seen ego in him. He respects his family and meets everyone respectfully. But what I want from him is, when he enters the field, he doesn't act bigger than the game.

"Prioritise Pakistan. The investments he made in some players during his tenure as Pakistan captain didn't favour the country, too,” said Akmal.