Mike Hesson clears air on Babar Azam's T20I role, backs Shaheen’s future

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Pakistan white-ball head coach Mike Hesson has denied rumours suggesting that Babar Azam is being considered as a wicketkeeping option in the T20I setup. Instead, the star batter is currently competing for a place at the top of the order.

Speaking to the media during the pre-Bangladesh white-ball training camp in Karachi on Thursday, Hesson was asked to clarify ongoing speculation seen on social media.

“Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option. I’m not sure where that came from but I have heard that speculation around,” Hesson said.

“Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. Obviously, we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment. So, he’s competing for that,” he added.

Babar has not featured in T20Is for Pakistan since December 2024, during the tour of South Africa. 

Another key name missing from the T20I squad is left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, who last played in a T20I in March this year. His absence led to speculation that Hesson had advised him to limit his participation to certain formats.

However, the head coach dismissed these claims and reaffirmed Shaheen’s importance to the national setup.

“Shaheen Shah Afridi is a world-class player. There’s no doubt that we identified some areas that we think Shaheen needs to work on as does every player in this camp,” Hesson stated.

“But, there’s a good reason that he and everybody else are at this camp [which] is that they are in wider plans for Pakistan in white-ball cricket and that includes T20 cricket," he added. 

“So, players go through good periods and periods where they’re a little bit down in their game and it’s up to us as a coaching staff to try and get our best players on par and make them better so that when they play for Pakistan, they perform better," he further added. 

“We certainly don’t discount quality players. We try to work with them to help them come back stronger,” he concluded. 

Along with Babar and Shaheen, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, and Naseem Shah have also been called up for a week-long camp at the National Bank Stadium in Karachi. The camp will conclude on July 15, ahead of the team’s departure for Bangladesh.

Pakistan squad for Bangladesh T20I series:

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Sufiyan Muqeem.

Players called up for the camp:

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Bangladesh T20I series schedule:

• 20 July: First T20I – Dhaka (5pm PST)
• 22 July: Second T20I – Dhaka (5pm PST)
• 24 July: Third T20I – Dhaka (5pm PST)