Hesson dismisses Babar as wicketkeeper speculation

Mike Hesson has dismissed speculation that he had asked Babar Azam to consider taking up wicketkeeping in a bid to regain his place in Pakistan's T20I side.

Reports had surfaced in recent days that the new Pakistan coach had told Babar, until recently a captain and mainstay in the T20I side, that he needed another skill to make him a more viable option at the top of the order.

Babar has never kept wicket in his career, but Hesson was, in any case, categorical that Pakistan did not view him as a wicketkeeping option. Babar was not part of Pakistan's last T20I squad for the home series against Bangladesh and is also not part of the squad that travels there for a return series later this month.

The two series are the first under Hesson, as Pakistan look to reset their T20 batting approach under Salman Agha's captaincy. But Babar and his longtime opening partner Mohammad Rizwan are both part of a week-long training camp in Karachi with the selected squad. Rizwan is also not part of the squad; as a long-time opening partnership, Babar and Rizwan's stock has fallen steadily over the last couple of years, with criticism growing around their low-risk approach, apparent lack of intent and low strike rates.

"Firstly, Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option, no," Hesson said. "Not sure where that came from, but I have heard that speculation. Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. But obviously, we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment, so he's competing for that."

Hesson was asked again about Babar, in the context of batting strike rates, and said he wanted Pakistan to catch up with the rest of the world in their approach.

"No doubt strike rate is important in T20 cricket but you have to combine it with a volume of runs," Hesson said. "There's a good reason why our ranking in T20 cricket is as low as it is, because our strike rates from a batting point of view are not high enough. We certainly made some shifts in that last series to play a more expansive game of cricket and probably catch up with the rest of the world, as that is the way the modern game is.

"Babar is one of many who have the ability to make those improvements. And I'm here to work with them and help them. In the last month or so, he's made some really good changes. It's not just a matter of going from 125 to 150, it's a matter of increasing what you can offer because we're no doubt often 30-40 runs short with the bat. So, we need to find a way of getting that."

Babar and Rizwan aren't the only big names on the outer as far as the team is concerned. Shaheen Shah Afridi, another member of the core that led Pakistan successively to last-four and runners-up finishes in the T20 World Cups in 2021 and 2022, has also not been picked in recent Pakistan T20I sides. Afridi won a third PSL title in four seasons as captain of Lahore Qalandars in May, bowling well towards the end of the league. He is also at the camp, though not yet back in favour.

"Shaheen Shah Afridi is a world-class player," Hesson said. "There's no doubt that we've identified some areas that Shaheen needs to work on, as does every player at this camp. But there's a good reason that he, and everybody else, is at this camp. They're in the wider frame for Pakistan in white-ball cricket and that includes T20 cricket. Players go through good periods and periods where they're a little bit down in their game. And it's up to us as coaching staff to try and get our best players on the park and make them better, so when they play for Pakistan, they perform better. We certainly don't discount quality players, but we try and work with them to help them come back stronger."

Hesson also clarified that Hasan Ali - the top wicket-taker against Bangladesh in the home series - had not been dropped, but that they had allowed him to continue playing in the Blast in England. Hasan will be back in the side for Pakistan's T20 series against West Indies in August. Hesson, who is part of the selection panel, took the opportunity to include Salman Mirza, the left-arm pacer who made such an impression late in Qalandars' winning PSL campaign.

"Shaheen is a high-quality player," Hesson said. "We had Hasan Ali, we had Haris Rauf, we had Abbas Afridi perform really well against Bangladesh. Haris is injured, and with Hasan, we saw an opportunity to bring in Salman Mirza. Shaheen will get his opportunity. But we also want to make sure that Shaheen has made some improvements to his game so that when he comes back into the T20 side, he does well."

The week-long camp is seen as more than just preparation for the Bangladesh tour. Pakistan have a busy T20 schedule as they look to rebuild for the next T20 World Cup in February-March 2026. They failed to make it past the group stages of the 2024 edition, a forgettable campaign which included a loss to USA.

"This camp is about identifying key areas where we need to work on," Hesson said. "And then putting the boys under a bit of pressure. I think we've identified even in the short time we've had with them, even with the last series, that there are some real fundamentals that we need to work on as a group. And that's why we have a week with them. The first few days will be around those and then we'll start to have a more specific focus for Bangladesh."