Mohammad Hafeez urges Babar Azam to bat at No. 3 in Champions Trophy 2025

Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has shared his views on Babar Azam’s batting position for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. Hafeez believes Babar should return to his natural No. 3 spot in the batting order.

Babar was recently promoted to open in the tri-nation series due to Saim Ayub’s injury, but he struggled in this role, scoring only 10, 23, and 29 runs in the series.

His last ODI century came against Nepal in the 2023 Asia Cup. Notably, the last time he opened in ODIs was in 2015, the year of his debut, where he managed scores of just 4 and 22 runs.

Babar has been a key player for Pakistan in ODIs, especially at No. 3, where he has accumulated 5,957 runs in 123 matches at an impressive average of 56, with 19 centuries and 23 fifties.

Hafeez believes that Pakistan has enough specialist openers for the tournament. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he suggested that Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq, or Abdullah Shafique should partner with Fakhar Zaman as openers.

Hafeez emphasized that Babar returning to No. 3 would strengthen the team’s batting lineup and provide much-needed stability in the crucial tournament.