Pakistan’s white-ball head coach Mike Hesson has officially confirmed that Babar Azam will return to the No. 3 position in the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa 2025, marking his comeback to the shortest format after nearly a year. Babar last featured in T20Is in December 2024.
Hesson Explains Babar’s Return and Fakhar Zaman’s Break
Speaking to reporters at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Hesson elaborated on Pakistan’s selection strategy and Babar’s comeback plans. With Fakhar Zaman being rested from T20Is to focus on improving his technique in domestic cricket, a spot opened up in the top order.
“𝑰 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑭𝒂𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒓 𝒁𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕-𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑶𝑫𝑰𝒔. 𝑮𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻20𝑰𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑮𝒆𝒐𝑺𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓.
The coach praised Babar’s class and experience, stating that his presence at No. 3 will add much-needed balance and reliability to Pakistan’s batting order.
“Babar Will Excel at No.3” – Hesson Confident in the Star Batter
“𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒑-𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅,” 𝑯𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅. “𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒎 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆.”
Babar, who last played a T20I against South Africa, has been one of Pakistan’s most consistent performers in the format. The 31-year-old has scored 4223 runs in 128 matches, averaging 39.84 with a strike rate of 129.23. He has notched up 36 fifties and three centuries, including a career-best 122 against South Africa in Centurion (2021).
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