Babar Azam is like my younger brother and I’m sure he will serve Pakistan for a long time says Hafeez

Babar Azam & Mohammad Hafeez. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Pakistan’s new ODI captain Babar Azam has been in news since his appointment. The right-handed batsman was already touted as one of the best batsmen in the world, but now stakes will be higher for him. As he awaits the new challenge of leading the Pakistan ODI and T20I team, he has received the backing of a former skipper.

Mohammad Hafeez, in a recent interaction, said that he is sure that Babar Azam will lead the national team for a long time. The former captain of the national team has backed Babar to deliver the goods as the leader. The batsman has shown immense faith in the young skipper.

“He [Babar] is a brilliant performer for Pakistan. In his five-year career for Pakistan so far, he has played some amazing cricket. However, he is yet to reach his full potential, considering his talent,” said Hafeez during a YouTube show, ‘Cricast’.

“He is like my younger brother and I tell him to his face that a talent like him is not there yet where I want to see him. He is trying to push those barriers and I am confident that he will serve Pakistan for a long time,” Hafeez added.

‘I have best wishes for Babar’: Mohammad Hafeez

Talking about Babar’s captaincy, the batsman said that he doesn’t know how will the new skipper react to different situations. Hafeez said that it is important for Babar to win matches as a captain because that will do good to his confidence as a batsman as well.

“I haven’t seen him a lot as a captain. I played only two matches under his captaincy. I can’t evaluate his captaincy until I see his personal tactics as a captain in different match situations,” he said.

“I have best wishes for him that he leads Pakistan for a long period of time and joins the list of successful Pakistan captains. It will be beneficial for him as well as Pakistan because when our top-level performer will start winning as a captain, his confidence will be even higher,” Hafeez added.

Hafeez was dropped out of the ODI squad post the aftermath of the ICC World Cup 2019. The batsman was then recalled back into the side for a T20I series against Bangladesh earlier this year. Misbah-ul-Haq, the coach and selector of the Pakistan team, had pointed the experience factor in bringing back Hafeez.

Hafeez was brought back into the side when Babar was announced as the new T20I captain. The decision was made keeping in mind the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.