‘No discussion with Babar Azam regarding wicketkeeping,’ says Mike Hesson

KARACHI: Pakistan white-ball head coach Mike Hesson on Thursday, denied speculations regarding Babar Azam being seen as a wicketkeeping option, stating that the star batter was instead competing for an opening slot in the T20I team.

Hesson, while talking to the media on the sidelines of the white-ball and pre-Bangladesh series camp here, was asked to clarify the ongoing social media chatter.

The head coach, in response, smirked before swiftly denying the claims and also reiterated Babar’s status as the top-order batter in the shortest format.

“Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option. I’m not sure where that came from but I have heard that speculation around,” said Hesson.

“Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. Obviously, we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment. So, he’s competing for that,” he added.

Notably, Babar has been away from the national T20I side since December 2024 when they toured South Africa.

Among other notable absentees from Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming away series against Bangladesh was Shaheen Shah Afridi, whose last international appearance in the format came in March this year.

His absence from the T20I setup also raised doubts about his future as a multi-format asset to the Pakistan men’s cricket team, with rumours circulating on social media that Hesson had advised the pacer to focus on selected formats.

Hesson, however, denied the claims, labelling Shaheen as a world-class player and asserting that the pacer remains a part of Pakistan’s wider plans in white-ball cricket, including T20Is.

“Shaheen Shah Afridi is a world-class player. There’s no doubt that we identified some areas that we think Shaheen needs to work on as does every player in this camp,” Hesson stated.

“But, there’s a good reason that he and everybody else are at this camp [which] is that they are in wider plans for Pakistan in white-ball cricket and that includes T20 cricket.

“So, players go through good periods and periods where they’re a little bit down in their game and it’s up to us as a coaching staff to try and get our best players on par and make them better so that when they play for Pakistan, they perform better.

“We certainly don’t discount quality players. We try to work with them to help them come back stronger.”

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan’s T20I squad for the Bangladesh series, as well as five national players – Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Mohammad Wasim Jr and Naseem Shah – are currently participating in a week-long training camp at the National Bank Stadium here.

The training camp will conclude on July 15 ahead of the national team’s departure for Bangladesh for the three-match series.

Pakistan squad for Bangladesh T20I series:

Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem.

Five players called up for the camp: Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Series schedule in Bangladesh

16 July – Pakistan men’s team arrival

20 July – First T20I at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (6pm local time)

22 July – Second T20I at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (6pm local time)

24 July – Third T20I at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka (6pm local time)