After being ignored by the Pakistan side for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025, starting on September 09 at the United Arab Emirates, Babar Azam turned up for the Peshawar Zalmi during an exhibition T20 match in Pakistan against the Legends XI. With his all-around performance, he has been struggling to keep himself away from social media chatter. 

A video has gone viral when the fans, from the stadium, were cheering for the veteran batter and asked him to come into the attack with the ball in hand. Looking at the loud cheer, the former T20I captain of the Pakistan side started to warm up and decided to come into the attack with the ball in hand.

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As far as his contributions with the ball are concerned, Babar displayed his skills in how he could contribute to any side in any fashion. While he hasn’t had the chance to bowl in the ODIs and T20Is, he has a total of seven first-class wickets and recorded another 12 in the List A games.

Watch: Babar Azam picks up wickets with ball after turning to ball on fans’ request

On the very first delivery of his spell, Babar got the wicket of his old-time team-mate, Azhar Ali, who swung his bat on the first delivery and saw the ball pop up in the air before the fielder grabbed the catch. Ali, in a hilarious manner, ran after Babar, who, funnily, tried to get saved from Ali.

Best moment from the exhibition match.✨

- Babar Azam gave the fans what they wanted. Came to bowl on the request of the fans and took 2 wickets. A simple but special part of the game.❤️ pic.twitter.com/gCnnQC4X3P

— Salman. (@TsMeSalman) September 1, 2025

The second wicket of the veteran came when he dismissed another veteran batter of the national side, Younis Khan. Babar made a strong look at Younis after the dismissal, who used his hands to show how the ball skidded off the surface to disturb the stumps. He truly cherished his figures of 2/21.

With the bat, he raced away to 35 runs off 20 balls before nailing the very next delivery for a six, and ended with 41 runs in 22 balls. Even though he negotiated Shoaib Akhtar quite easily, he wasn’t able to do the same against Saeed Ajmal, who sent Babar back to the pavilion. 

In a major turn of events, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) have appointed Pakistani batting legend Younis Khan as a mentor for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The 47-year-old previously served as a batting consultant for Afghanistan in 2022.  On Wednesday, January 8th, the news was officially made public by the national cricketing body. Younis is expected to join the Afghan camp shortly just before the tournament kicks off on February 19. 

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ACB's recent statement which confirms Younis' appointment as a mentor

On Wednesday, in a recent press release, the ACB spokesman Sayeed Naseem Sadat confirmed Younis Khan's appointment as a mentor. During his prime days, Younis served as a pillar for Pakistan across all formats. In his nearly two-decades-long international career, he scored 10,099 runs in 118 Tests, including a memorable triple-century against Sri Lanka (313). Furthermore, also reached the number-one spot in the ICC Test rankings. Under his leadership, Pakistan lifted their maiden T20 World Cup trophy in 2009.

“ACB has assigned former experienced top-order Pakistani player Younis Khan as Mentor for Champions Trophy 2025. He (Younis) will join the team before the event starts in Pakistan.” 

After calling quits, Younis shifted his attention to coaching. Over the course of a few years, Younis enriched his coaching record and took a number of mentoring roles for the Pakistan Cricket team and Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). In addition, he also tried his luck in the shortest format of the game and worked as a head coach for the Bangla Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.

Afghanistan's strange inclination towards hiring foreign coaching personnel

Afghanistan have earned a reputation for drafting foreign players into the coaching setup. During the ODI World Cup in India, Afghanistan had the services of the former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja. Under his supervision, Afghanistan had a memorable run in the World Cup unlike the previous editions, and finished sixth, including victories against England and Pakistan. Notably, Jadeja offered his services without seeking any payment in return.

Last year in the T20 World Cup which was jointly hosted by West Indies and the USA, Windies all-rounder DJ Bravo served as a bowling consultant for Afghanistan. Although they officially did not have a mentor for that tournament, the team managed to reach the semi-finals for the first time in its history. 

The appointment of Younis Khan highlights Afghanistan's significant inclination towards including foreign coaches from the country where the tournament is expected to be held. With the Champions Trophy slated to be jointly hosted by Pakistan and the UAE, Afghanistan can definitely profit from Younis' rich expertise. The Pakistani batting legend comes across as a natural leader and has the potential to scale Afghanistan's batting department to new heights. 

While Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi have already expressed their disappointment, former Pakistan captain Younis Khan and former wicket keeper batter Kamran Akmal are the most recent members to do so.

Numerous former cricketers have voiced harsh criticism of Jay Shah, secretary of the BCCI and president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), for his recent announcement regarding India’s reservation from travelling to Pakistan for the Asia Cup 2023. Many Pakistani athletes who have played international cricket urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep its firm stance and not travel to India for the ICC men’s World Cup that will be held next year. Some have even decided not to attend the T20 World Cup match in Melbourne on Sunday.

While Saeed Anwar and Shahid Afridi have already expressed their disappointment, former Pakistan captain Younis Khan and former wicket keeper batter Kamran Akmal are the most recent members to do so.

On ARY News’, popular cricket talk show Har Lamha Purjosh, the pair discussed the subject. They were all in agreement that Pakistan should host the tournament even if India did not participate.

“I think Jay Shah should not have said that but since the bullet has been fired I would ask the PCB to take a firm stance on this issue, just like we did in the past [after New Zealand called off Pakistan’s tour at the eleventh hour] and as you know those teams have begun to tour the country, but if they [BCCI] decide to stick with their decision then it should not matter to us if the Indian team does not participate in Asia Cup and we should consider not travelling to India for the ODI World Cup the following year, nor we should agree to host Asia Cup at a neutral venue,”

said Younis.

Kamran, on the other hand, went a step further and asked for a complete boycott against India, including the upcoming clash at the T20 World Cup on Sunday.

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“I believe Jay Shah’s statement was unexpected, and since he attended the Pakistan-India game during this year’s Asia Cup, he should reserve politics for his opposition and avoid dragging it into sports, Asia Cup should only be hosted in Pakistan and if that does not happen then Pakistan should not play against India at any level, be it ICC events’ matches, Asia Cup matches, or even their match on October 23,”

the former wicket keeper stated

The PCB released an official statement in this regard on Wednesday. 

“The PCB has noted with surprise and disappointment of yesterday’s comments made by the ACC President Mr. Jay Shah with regards to shifting next year’s Asia Cup to a neutral venue. The comments were made without any discussion or consultation with the Board of the Asian Cricket Council or the Pakistan Cricket Board (event host) and without any thoughts towards their long-term consequences and implications,”

it said in a release.

With the T20 World Cup set to start in October this year, many fans and specialists have been left contemplating whether the Pakistan cricket team can pose a strong opposition for the trophy in Australia. The Babar Azam-led side were in resurgent form during the T20 World Cup last year and lost to eventual victors Australia in the semi-finals. Then, at that point, in the current year’s Asia Cup, they collided with a surprising loss against Sri Lanka in the final.

Talking during a tape-ball competition in Karachi, Pakistan legend Younis Khan had a fiery warning for PCB chief Ramiz Raja and Babar Azam and co. Encouraging them not to roll out any changes before the T20 World Cup.

“There is always this hue and cry that the team needs changing. We tried this last time. Now, I think they should not embarrass themselves, all of a sudden changing the team. Our coaches, captain and PCB have to utilise these very players. These are the only players you have, there won’t be any coming in from anywhere else, and this is the best bunch”.

He said

The former cricketer also suggested players to change their approach as per the mood of the match. 

“Cricket is a game of sacrifices (…) when you play for the national team, there is no such thing that I will only play in this style. You have to change your style for your country, for the millions of people watching you, and when this is your thinking, I don’t think there is anything stopping Pakistan”,

he added.

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Pakistan are currently facing England in a seven-match T20I series, and tied it 2-2 on Sunday with a win by three runs, in Karachi. A knock of 88 runs off 67 balls to Mohammad Rizwan assisted the hosts with posting 166 for four in 20 overs, with Babar also contributing with a knock of 36 runs off 28 deliveries. Chasing a target of 167 runs, England were bowled out for 163 in 19.2 overs. Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz were in great bowling form, stowing three-wicket hauls respectively.