Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali blasted Mohammad Haris for suggesting that Babar Azam's T20 style of batting needs improvement. Speaking in a recent YouTube video, Ali took a scathing attack on Haris' opinion, claiming that he should be beaten with a stick for telling Babar how to bat in T20s.
With Babar struggling to produce the goods in T20I cricket for a long time, he has been dropped from the squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. Haris, who must play a pivotal role if the Men in Green are to do well in the multi-nation tournament, said the former Pakistan captain must play fast if he is to return to the T20I side.
Speaking to Pakistani anchor Mohammad Kamil Khan, Haris had said, as quoted by One Cricket:
"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. Babar Azam needs to play fast in T20."
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Responding to that, Basit stated:
"Mohammad Haris Babar Azam ke liye baat kare ki unko improvement ki zarurat hai. Unko dande se maarna chahiye. Tum ho kya, ki tum Babar Azam ke liye baat kar rahe ho. Babar Azam kaptaan hota toh, kya yeh bayaan deta woh?" (Mohammad Haris is talking about Babar Azam that he needs improvement. He should be beaten up with a stick. Who are you that you are speaking about Babar Azam. If Babar would've been the captain, would he have spoken about it.)
"There’s no doubt Babar has been asked to improve in some areas" - Mike Hesson
Pakistan's head coach Mike Hesson addressed Babar's absence from the Asia Cup squad recently by claiming that the Lahore-born cricketer must improve his gameplay against spin and the strike rate in the format. As quoted by India Today, Hesson had claimed:
"There’s no doubt Babar has been asked to improve in some areas, particularly against spin and in terms of his strike-rate. Those are aspects I know he’s working very hard on at the moment. A player like Babar also has the opportunity to play in the BBL and showcase improvements in those areas of T20 cricket. He’s simply too good a player for us not to consider."
Although the 30-year-old averages a respectable 39.83 in T20Is, he hasn't scored a half-century in the format since May 2024. Nevertheless, Babar has received a contract from the Sydney Sixers in the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League.
