Babar Azam Told To Stay Away From Pakistan Cricket After Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistan’s former coach, Mudassar Nazar, has blamed the former captain of the side, Babar Azam, for his poor performance in the Champions Trophy 2025 at home, which saw the national side getting eliminated from the home ICC event in less than a week.

The Green Brigade began the campaign with a huge defeat against New Zealand at the National Stadium in Karachi, where they failed to chase 321 runs in the second innings. During the second do-or-die encounter against India in Dubai, they couldn’t depend on the paltry 241 runs before the final group-stage clash ended in a washout against Bangladesh.

Babar Azam’s poor performance in the Champions Trophy 2025

During Pakistan’s failure in the Kiwi clash, Babar received so much criticism as he punched just 64 runs in 90 deliveries at a strike rate of around 70 in Karachi. At no point did he look to put the feel on the metal. Khusdil Shah and Salman Ali Agha’s firing half-centuries weren’t enough to seal the deal for the side.

Also Read: India’s Team Member Leaves For Home In Between Champions Trophy 2025

Mohammad Rizwan’s army had India for the second encounter in Dubai. Babar made a decent start in the first innings, as he thumped a few glorious drives for boundaries, but got a fine edge against Hardik Pandya into the hands of the wicket-keeper.

The right-handed batter finished the ICC campaign with 87 runs in two innings. After a strong 50-over performance for the Lahore-born, he didn’t enjoy a great time in 2025, including the tri-series.

Pakistan’s ex-coach blames Babar Azam and pacers for this reason

The former head coach of the Green Brigade reckoned that Babar couldn’t cope with the pressure, and it would be important for him to stay away from the game for the next three to four months.

“Babar Azam hasn’t been able to cope with the pressure, and for a long time, the slide has been getting bigger and bigger. What’s the solution to that? The biggest solution for Babar at the moment is to stay away from cricket for three to four months and don’t come back to international cricket again straightaway.” Mudassar Nazar expressed during a video.

Pakistan's veteran also reckoned that both the top-class pacers of the Pakistan side, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, should also follow the same process and look to be part of domestic cricket.

“We have seen that Shaheen and Naseem came back quite early in international cricket. They didn’t play any cricket in between. They need to go back to domestic cricket. They will do the rehab, and what’s the first step after doing the rehab? It’s t go back to the first-class cricket.” He explained.

Mudassar Nazar suggests this to Babar Azam

Babar Azam’s Test form has also dropped as he could not get the runs under his belt during the recent home series against England.

Also Read: Watch: Shreyas Iyer Hilariously Mocked By Virat Kohli For Ridiculous Fielding In Champions Trophy 2025

“Never come straight back to international cricket, and Babar wants to do that. I have spoken to him. It’s nearly three to four years since he played first-class cricket, and that’s criminal. They are in the central contracts. I am all for giving them money and financial packages.” Pakistan’s former head coach claimed.

“They should be given as much money as they bring in. It’s their right. With the central contract, it comes with a lot of responsibility. You should go and play domestic cricket and make yourself available for first-class cricket for the entire year and can’t choose between formats. Let the cricket board decide that.” Mudassar Nazar concluded.

Pakistan’s next focus will be on the upcoming bilateral white-ball series in New Zealand.