"He is on top in bilaterals. but in ICC"- Mohammad Hafeez's scathing attack on Babar Azam

After recklessly bashing Babar Azam over the past 6 months, former Pakistan captain and team Director Mohammad Hafeez feels sorry for the current skipper.

Mohammad Hafeez's comments came in light of Babar Azam's poor form and performance in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. Under the latter's captaincy, Pakistan also exited the T20 World Cup after losing their first two Group A matches against the USA and Rohit Sharma's team India.

It was a shocking outcome for the Men in Green as they had reached the last stages of the previous T20 WC editions in 2021 and 2022. The 2024 edition was supposed to be the one where Babar Azam and co. were expected to take one step forward in winning the title for the 2nd time.

However, losses to the USA and India proved costly and the wins they registered against Canada and Ireland were just not enough. Pakistan completed 4 points yesterday during their last Group A match against Ireland at the Central Regional Park in Florida. Following the obligatory fixture, Mohammad Hafeez had some words of support for Babar Azam.

What did Mohammad Hafeez say?

While speaking to a local Pakistani channel, Mohammad Hafeez claimed that he feels sorry for Babar Azam for the way he performed in this WC. Hafeez said that given the quality Babar contains, it is shocking to see him not score runs in major ICC events. This is something that Babar has been doing for a long while now.

Babar Azam always stands up and delivers for the team during the Bilateral series' but his form and rhythm drop whenever he has to perform in big tournaments. And the reason behind that dip is something, according to Mohammad Hafeez, that only Babar can address.

"I feel sorry for Babar Azam. For a quality player like him, to have a major dip during ICC events is a big concern. And only Babar Azam can answer this. Is it because of his captaincy?" - Hafeez said.

Mohammad Hafeez then spoke about his expectations from Babar Azam, admitting that he wants the latter to be Pakistan's top-scorer. The former team Director believes that Babar can do so but he is quite amazed and is not able to believe that the Pakistani skipper always misses out on major ICC competitions.

"I want him to be the highest run-getter for Pakistan and he has that capacity. But when it comes to bilateral series, Babar is on top but in the ICC event he is so low down. So this big dip in form is cause for concern and only Babar can answer it or maybe someone else." - Hafeez added.

Hafeez says Babar's 32 off 34 was very good during the win against Ireland

Mohammad Hafeez then defended the Pakistani skipper for his tally of 32 off 34 against Ireland in the last Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Hafeez said that Babar did very well to make sure he didn't lose his wicket amid the frequent departures and claimed that he played the role of being a senior pro very well.

"He is on top in bilaterals. but in ICC"- Mohammad Hafeez's scathing attack on Babar Azam