Former Pakistan skipper Mohammad Hafeez lashed out at Pakistan’s men’s cricket team head coach Mike Hesson for making some comments over Babar Azam’s strike rate in the format. For Hafeez, Hesson’s comments made no sense.
The former cricketer claimed that he went through Mike Hesson’s comments multiple times but couldn’t decode the meaning of them.
Why there are noises around Babar Azam
During an interaction season with Game On Hai, Hafeez criticized the coach heavily. Hesson, in the pre-match press for their Super 8 match with New Zealand, stated that Babar Azam’s strike rate is not suitable for top-order batting when the team needs to score runs at a quick pace.
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After being demolished by Team India, Pakistan had no option but to outclass Namibia in their final group clash. During the must-win match with Namibia, while Pakistan’s opener Sahibzada Farhan scored a splendid century, Babar Azam, who was assigned to bat at number 4, did not come to bat because of management’s decision.
Pakistan head coach criticised Azam’s strike rate
Pakistan’s win over Namibia was not enough to distinguish the doubts around Babar Azam’s role in the team. The right-handed batter, who has been struggling with form in the format, still holds the top spot in the list of most runs in a career in T20Is with 4571 runs in 144 matches.
“I think he’s well aware that his strike rate in the powerplay in (T20) World Cups is less than 100. “So clearly, that’s not a role that we think we need here,” Mike Hesson said in the press conference when he was asked about Azam’s role in the setup.
“We think he’s a fine player through the middle, if required, in terms of if we’re in a little bit of trouble. Or as we saw against the USA, once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate at that point. So, we brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup. We wanted some batsmanship through the middle, and he certainly brought that for us,” he continued.
Hafeez raised a question against Mike Hesson
Hesson’s comments did not go well with Mohammad Hafeez. The former skipper questioned, If the batter is not for the strategy, then why is he in the playing combination?
“He (Mike Hesson) said neither he’s a powerplay batter because his strike rate is 100… I read this statement 15 times, but I didn’t understand, which is why I am asking you, because you are like an elder brother, maybe you’ll understand. He said that Babar can’t bat in the first six overs, because his strike-rate is quite low; he gave that stat, nor could he bat after the 10th over. Toh vo khel kyu raha hai? (Why is he playing?)” Hafeez straightaway said.
