Former Pakistan fast bowler Tanveer Ahmed has sharply criticised young wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris for his recent comments about star batter Babar Azam’s approach to T20 cricket.
Haris, while speaking in an interview on a local YouTube channel, had suggested that Babar should “play fast” in the shorter format of the game. He also hinted that senior players needed to step aside in order to create more opportunities for younger cricketers in Pakistan’s T20 setup.
Haris praised Babar and Rizwan for their contributions but maintained that Pakistan must look ahead if it hopes to set new benchmarks in modern 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,” Haris remarked.
The statement did not sit well with Tanveer Ahmed, who responded strongly on social media platform X. In his post, Tanveer openly questioned Haris’s credentials and criticised him for questioning the strike rate of a player of Babar’s calibre. “Mohammad Haris, what kind of big player are you that in an interview you’re saying Babar Azam needs to improve his strike rate? Brother, first build your own value, then say something about a world-class player,” Tanveer wrote. His words reflected the ongoing debate in Pakistan cricket circles about how to balance experience and youth in the T20 side.
Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been central figures in Pakistan’s T20 batting lineup for several years. Between 2019 and 2023, the duo formed one of the most successful opening partnerships in world cricket, scoring over 3,300 runs together at an average of 46.47.
They were widely praised for their consistency and ability to anchor innings, often carrying the side in pressure situations. However, with the evolution of T20 cricket worldwide, where teams now place greater emphasis on aggressive batting and higher strike rates, their measured style has drawn increasing scrutiny.
This criticism intensified after Pakistan’s poor showing in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where the team crashed out in the group stage, suffering a shock defeat to the USA along the way. In the aftermath, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to make sweeping changes, moving forward without Babar and Rizwan in the T20 format.
Their last international appearance in the shortest format came on December 13, 2024, and since then, neither has featured for Pakistan in T20Is throughout 2025.
The exchange of remarks between Haris and Tanveer highlights the generational clash in Pakistan cricket, where the call for fresh, aggressive talent is colliding with the legacy and proven records of established players like Babar Azam.
It also reflects the broader struggle within the team to adapt to the global trend of strike-rate-driven cricket while not losing the stability and reliability that players like Babar and Rizwan bring to the table.
