Waqar Younis Post Tears Apart Mohammad Hafeez’s Criticism Of 90s Pakistan Player's Heroics

Waqar Younis has hit back at former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez who questioned the legacy of the 90s Pakistani cricketers.

Hafeez claimed that even though their squad featured "megastars" in the 1990s, their inability to take home an ICC championship did not motivate fans or the following generation.

After a thrilling victory in the 1992 World Cup, Pakistan lost in the quarterfinals of the 1996 tournament but advanced to the 1999 final, where they lost to Australia in a lopsided match.

Mohammad Hafeez lashed out at 90s Cricketers

“Players who win ICC tournaments, inspire the next generation. I am a big fan of players from the 1990s, but when it comes to legacy, they left nothing for Pakistan. They didn’t win an ICC event – 1996 (ODI World Cup), 1999 (ODI World Cup) and 2003 (ODI World Cup) – they lost badly. We could’ve won one final (1999 World Cup) but lost badly.

As stars, as players, they were mega superstars, but they couldn’t inspire us by winning the ICC event. Then things changed, and we faced a little difficult period. In 2007, we lost the final (T20 World Cup). Then in 2009 we won under Younis Khan’s captaincy and so there was some inspiration,” said Hafeez on Outside EDGE.

Shoaib Akhtar responds to Mohammad Hafeez’s criticism

Before pointing out that the "mega superstars" of the 1990s failed to win any ICC tournaments, Hafeez went on to say that he was inspired by winning the Champions Trophy in 2017 and the 2009 World T20.

“Unfortunately, it was followed by a terrible incident with Pakistan cricket from which we are still not able to recover. Then in 2017, we won an ICC trophy (Champions Trophy) which was a big inspiration. People idealize Babar Azam today because even though he didn’t make any big impact then, he was part of it. Unfortunately, players of the 90s couldn’t win any ICC event with due respect to their talent, they were mega superstars," he said.

Participating in the discussion was Shoaib Akhtar, who played for Pakistan from 1997 to 2011, who noted that Pakistan's better head-to-head record against India in ODIs is due to the players of his generation.

“He’s (Hafeez) involved us all in this. These 73 one-dayers that Pakistan have won against India, it is us who won it," he said.

“90s ka Londa”- Waqar Younis shares his and Wasim Akram’s bowling stats to shut Mohammad Hafeez up

The Pakistani icon Waqar Younis reminded Hafeez of his and Akram's game accomplishments on the social media site X. Many people consider Younis and Akram to be among the greatest fast bowlers of all time.

Waqar Younis came in second, and Akram withdrew from ODIs as the all-time leading wicket-taker. Waqar Younis took 373 wickets in Test matches and 416 in ODIs. In contrast, Akram took 414 wickets in the game's longest format and concluded his ODI career with an incredible 502 wickets.

“90’s KA LONDA”

Test - 191
ODI’s - 618
Wkts - 1705
Runs - 8594
5wkts - 66
10wkts - 10#NotBad @wasimakramlive #GoodOldDays♥️ pic.twitter.com/09VaeKbycJ

— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) March 6, 2025

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