“The other day, we got to the 12th-over mark and at that point Babar Azam is not the best person to come in. We’ve got plenty of other options who can come in and perform that [finishing] role towards the end. And Babar’s actually the first to acknowledge that, you know he knows that he’s got a certain set of skills that the team require and there are certain times where other players can perform a role more efficiently,” Hesson said before Pakistan’s Super Eights match against New Zealand in Colombo.
Hesson, however, insisted that he ideally fits into the order at number four, despite the backlash at Babar and the team management’s way of persisting with him for that role.
“It’s what the team requires and Babar is well aware of that. 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 think he’s a fine player through the middle. If we’re in a little bit of trouble or, as we saw against the USA, once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate. We got Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup, we wanted some batsmanship through the middle, and he certainly brings that for us,” Hesson said.
Babar was not the only senior player to miss out against Namibia. After a string of lacklustre outings, pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi was dropped for the game.
Elaborating on the call, Hesson said, “We picked the best team to play that particular game and we made a call that Salman Mirza was coming in for Shaheen. He bowled incredibly well. He was probably really unlucky not to be playing the second and third games. His record since he started playing for Pakistan is exceptional. And conditions have dictated that we are only playing two pacers and often those two are not even bowling their full quota of overs.”
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Shaheen making way for Mirza has been a subplot in Pakistan’s growing reliance on his slower bowlers. Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Tariq have bowled 75 per cent of Pakistan’s overs in this World Cup. Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha have chipped in too.
But coach Hesson said that despite the spin-friendly conditions, his team’s hand would be forced into dropping one of its tweakers. In the last match, the axe fell on Abrar Ahmed.
“Nawaz is one of the best performing spinners in the world in T20 cricket. Since Shadab has come back, his figures have been exceptional. Saim Ayub obviously has the ability to bowl the carrom ball. So, there are certain times where we have six spin bowlers, and we don’t need that many. Usman Tariq has been able to bowl the tough overs through the middle and the end, and has been a real advantage for us. There could well be conditions in this tournament where we might go even more spin heavy than we already do and we know that Abrar will be ready if required,” Hesson said.
Published on Feb 20, 2026
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