Pakistan are giving their best in the Asia Cup 2025, but many are asking the same thing- can this team really do well without their senior stars?
For former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, the answer is quite simple – without those big names, the side just doesn’t look complete.
Add The Sporting News as a preferred news source
He believes players like Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Naseem Shah must come back if Pakistan wants to compete strongly again. Let's see what he had to say.
What did Mohammad Hafeez say about Babar Azam and Rizwan?
Hafeez made his point very clear when he spoke about Pakistan’s current side.
He said, “Let me be clear: I still believe this team desperately needs three players, and they should be consulted and guided properly. Without Babar Azam, this team is incomplete, he must be included. Naseem Shah is another essential player who absolutely needs to be in the squad. As for the third, Haris has struggled to adapt to international cricket, so Rizwan should take his place.”
He further explained that management must know how to use these players effectively. If Babar, Rizwan, and Naseem return, Hafeez believes Pakistan will be able to challenge any team in any condition.
He also admitted that mistakes were made earlier, but he said those were due to poor decisions from top management.
"It’s up to the management to decide how to extract performances and utilize these players effectively. But if these three are brought into the team, Pakistan will have a much stronger chance of performing well under any conditions against any formidable opponent," said Hafeez.
"Yes, mistakes have been made, but those were in a different context. When those mistakes happened, they were largely due to errors by the upper management. Regardless of whether Pakistan wins or loses the Asia Cup, these three players must be part of the team," he added.
How has Babar Azam’s form been in recent months?
Babar has been under much pressure because of his poor run with the bat. He has not been part of Pakistan’s T20I squad for a while now.
The right-hander missed the series against Bangladesh, the games against West Indies, and even the tri-series with the UAE and Afghanistan.
He did play ODIs against the West Indies, but managed only 56 runs in three games, averaging below 20.
Even though the numbers were not good, Hafeez feels Babar is still a key player who can turn things around once given the right backing.
How are Pakistan performing in Asia Cup 2025 without Babar Azam and Rizwan?
In this Asia Cup, Pakistan started by beating Oman and UAE in the group stage but also lost to India.
MORE: Asia Cup 2025 format: Explaining group stage and Super Four format for Asia Cup T20 tournament
In the Super Four stage, they went down again to India by six wickets but bounced back with a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka.
Their next game is against Bangladesh on September 25 in Dubai, a match that will decide whether they qualify for the final or not.
RELATED LINKS:
- Who will win the Asia Cup 2025? Latest odds, favourites
- Asia Cup 2025: TV channel online live stream and how to watch the T20 tournament from India
- How to bet online on cricket in India and most trusted sites
- All the latest cricket news
- 2025 Asia Cup schedule, fixtures, match times, latest results and points table
- Asia Cup 2025 highest wicket-takers: Top 5 bowlers with most wickets in the T20 tournament in UAE
- Asia Cup 2025 highest run scorers: Top 5 batters with most runs in the T20 tournament in UAE