"Took me about 2 months to convince Babar Azam" - Mohammad Hafeez on changing former skipper's batting position in T20Is
Outgoing Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez recalled how he spent a couple of months to convince Babar Azam to bat at No. 3 in T20Is. The former all-rounder insisted that he told Babar and Mohammad Rizwan that they must think about the entire team instead of only themselves.
Despite the overwhelming success of Babar and Rizwan as openers in the shortest format, the team management decided to separate the duo ahead of the T20I series against New Zealand. Nevertheless, Rizwan later admitted that the decision had affected the team negatively.
Speaking to a local channel, Hafeez recalled telling Babar and Rizwan that they do not make up the whole team.
"It took me about two months to convince Babar Azam that you have to do it for Pakistan and you are not the first one who's doing it. You are a great player, you are a wonderful player and you are playing great cricket however you have to develop the Pakistan team. You and Rizwan are very good players, excellent players but you are not the whole team," he explained.
While the opening pair of Rizwan and Saim Ayub didn't yield rich dividends, Babar performed decently in New Zealand. The right-handed batter struck three successive half-centuries, but Pakistan lost the five-match series by a 4-1 margin.
"Thank you very much to him that he accepted this" - Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad Hafeez claimed he was optimistic about Babar hitting his stride at No. 3 in T20Is, given he plays in the same position in ODIs.
"We need to develop a team and for that, I want you to come at No. 3 because you have been playing this role in the ODI cricket for the last six years, so it won't affect you; technically you are very solid. Thank you very much to him that he accepted this and he played for Pakistan at No. 3 which obviously I think is the best way to move," he explained.
With Hafeez as team director and coach, Pakistan managed only one win across formats during their recent tours of Australia and New Zealand.