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Babar and Rizwan on Sunday were ignored by PCB selectors for a place in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the 2025 edition of the Asia Cup.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan told to follow Virat Kohli’s path and retire. (Picture Credit: PTI)
Former Pakistani captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan on Sunday (August 17) were ignored by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors for a place in Men in Green’s Asia Cup 2025 squad. The PCB’s decision to leave out Babar and Rizwan, who are the top two run-getters for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game, came as a shock for cricket fans around the world.
After PCB’s decision sent shockwaves around the world, former Pakistani fast bowler Tanveer Ahmed made a bold statement. He suggested Babar and Rizwan to quit international cricket. According to him, Babar and Rizwan should follow the ‘Virat Kohli’ path and retire from international cricket if “respect matters”.
“Meri Babar Azam aur Rizwan say request hai ager ap log yeh samajhtey hain ap logon ke izzat nahi ha tou retirement ley lo international cricket say humarey samne virat kohli ke examples hain. @babarazam258, @iMRizwanPak izzat apney hath main ha (My request to Babar Azam and Rizwan is that if you feel your respect is not intact, then consider retiring from international cricket. We have examples of Virat Kohli in front of us. Babar and Rizwan, respect is in your hands),” he tweeted.
‘They are not match winners.’
After Babar and Rizwan were ignored for the Asia Cup 2025, former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez attacked the duo by saying that they are not key players for Pakistan any more.
“Calling them (Babar and Rizwan) key players would be wrong and unfair. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are not Pakistan cricket’s key players at the moment. Key players are those who win matches for Pakistan,” Hafeez said on his YouTube channel.
“If we look at the past year and a half to two years, the players showing consistent performance are Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub and Hasan Nawaz. Why aren’t we talking about them? They are the current players winning matches for Pakistan,” he added.
Hafeez feels Babar and Rizwan need to prove themselves as good players.
“I think Babar and Rizwan need to be concerned about their positions in the team. They need to prove themselves as good players first; key players come later. Both were good in the past, but now they are not delivering results,” he remarked.
“Both need to be fully involved in the game; otherwise, results won’t come. The same goes for Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi; they are also not giving match-winning performances for Pakistan,” he added.
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