Babar’s role is to play through the middle overs.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson on Friday (February 20, 2026) explained his team’s decision to not send talisman Babar Azam at No. 4 in its last group-stage game against Namibia, stating that he would not have been ‘‘the best person to come in’’.
“The other day, we got to the 12th-over mark and at that point Babar Azam was not the best person to come in. We’ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that [finishing] role. And Babar’s actually the first to acknowledge that,” Hesson said before Pakistan’s Super Eight match against New Zealand in Colombo.
Hesson, however, insisted that Babar will bat at No. 4 going ahead, despite coming under scrutiny.
“He’s well aware that his strike rate in the PowerPlay in World Cups is less than 100, so clearly that’s not a role we need.”
“We got Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup, we wanted some batsmanship through the middle (overs) and he certainly brings that for us,” Hesson said.
Elaborating on the call to drop Shaheen Afridi, Hesson said, “We picked the best team to play that particular game. Salman Mirza has bowled incredibly well, he was probably really unlucky to not be playing the second and third games, his record since he started playing for Pakistan is exceptional”.
Published – February 20, 2026 11:17 pm IST
