Last Updated on 2 weeks by Charbel Coorey

Pakistan cricket has been synonymous with the term “unpredictable” for as long as anyone can remember. After a poor performance during the 2024 T20 World Cup and a 2-0 loss to Bangladesh at home, they beat England in a three-match Test series after losing the first Test by an innings despite scoring 556. But, the best was yet to come, shocking the cricketing world by beating Australia 2-1 in Australia during the recently-concluded ODI series.

The Asian nation then went on to lose the three-match T20I series comfortably against Australia. Thus, their form has been topsy-turvy, to say the least. Moreover, their head coach Jason Gillespie recently stated that Cricket Australia’s focus was on the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and not the white-ball series between Australia and Pakistan.

During an exclusive interview with Arvind Kalyana Krishnan, former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif voiced his opinion on the limited-overs series between the two sides. The former keeper-batter spoke about Pakistan’s performances and drew light on their approach in the shortest format of the game. Latif drew light on Babar Azam’s current form, and felt that his batting alongside Mohammad Rizwan doesn’t suit the current demands of T20Is.

Moreover, Latif also spoke about the controversies surrounding India not wanting to come to Pakistan for the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025. He gave his opinion on the matter while stating the consequences of the same. It is to be noted that there’s yet to be an official update on India’s participation in the CT 2025 in Pakistan.

Rashid Latif Interview: Babar Azam, Champions Trophy and more

On whether Australia took Pakistan too lightly in the ODIs…

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Pakistan’s current head coach Jason Gillespie recently said that Cricket Australia’s focus was solely on the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and the limited-overs series against Pakistan didn’t get any limelight. Australia also rested their key players for not only the third ODI but also for the T20I series. What is your opinion on this? Did Australia take Pakistan too lightly?

Rashid Latif: See they (Australia) thought that they’ll play the first two ODI games and win the series and after that, they’ll change the side. However, they announced the changes beforehand. Their full-strength Australian side did play the first two ODIs, even those who’ll be playing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. So Australia won one and lost one.

Although they lost the third ODI with a younger team, any other team would’ve still lost to Pakistan. Pakistan would’ve beaten any team on that day, even the bigger team of Australia, their bowling was very good. It was a drop-in pitch and I felt that batting first was always going to be hard.

Now that will happen in upcoming Tests in Australia too. Drop-in pitches are hard, there’s more movement, but if you see the T20Is, i.e. the new team, they’re developing. Australia did win the first two T20Is with a younger side so there are no complaints, not from my side at least. It is good that they tried their players and they’re making a team for the 2026 T20 World Cup. They played well and won both the games.

As for Pakistan, Pakistan played a weak T20I team with new players. What I feel is that they have new players and will try them out. Hasebullah Khan, Omaie Yousuf and Jahandad Khan are some of them. So they will try out their new players. Pakistan did look like a weak T20I side though. They’re still developing. Australia is a new team and they normally give a strong reply in the shortest format of the game.

On Pakistan’s approach in T20Is…

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: My next question is about Pakistan’s T20I team. We’ve now been seeing the likes of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan open the batting in T20Is. No doubt their numbers are very good but if look at this generation, teams like India and Australia have openers like Rohit Sharma and Travis Head with an aggressive approach. Do you think that Pakistan’s openers should take an aggressive approach? Can they still change their T20I game?

Rashid Latif: See Pakistan’s strongest format was T20Is for the last 10 years. However, Pakistan is currently the worst T20 team, that’s what I feel. It’s not just about the openers. Take a look at the number 3 batter. Like India, if you take a look at their openers, they play at a strike rate of 150-155. Australian openers play at a strike rate of 160. England also play in the same manner.

Pakistan though plays at a strike rate of 126. Post this, it’s not just the openers, it’s how the number 3 batter also plays, India’s number 3 batter plays slightly slower but Australia’s number 3 batter plays quicker and then again, Pakistan’s number 3 batter plays even slower.

If you take a look at all countries and see, South African openers play at a strike rate of 145.1 since 2023. Australian openers play at a strike rate of 159.75. England openers play at 156.7. Indian openers play at 150.13. Pakistan openers though play at 126.12, so we’re way behind. Even a number 3 is also important. If you see Australia’s number 3 plays at a strike rate of 163.75, England at 126.4, India at 147. Pakistan again here is 127.

So you see Pakistani batters have a low strike rate at almost every batting position. Number 5 and 6 batters are important too and Pakistan’s number 5 batter has a strike rate of 114.07, number 6 is at 111.47. I’m not taking any names here but this is how the world plays. The problem isn’t just with our openers, it’s with the entire team.

If you see the second T20I against Australia, the way our lower-middle order performed, I mean the middle-order could’ve won us the game. So our issue isn’t just one. We’re falling way behind the current T20I standards in world cricket. T20Is are now played very differently, like how you now see in the IPL……The way you see Indian batters perform, the way you see the likes of Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal bat. The way Australia’s Travis Head and England’s Jos Buttler, even their youngsters like Jacob Bethell, I mean even their newcomers are playing like this. In my opinion, Pakistan are way behind other teams. Not just the openers, but there’s a huge question mark over the entire batting unit for me in T20Is.

Do Babar and Rizwan have the ability to change their game?

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: So similarly like this Rohit Sharma had an issue in T20Is and India’s approach was slightly different. However, Rohit Sharma changed the approach and got an aggressive intent, he himself started to bat more aggressively. Like Rohit Sharma, can Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan change their game? Do they have the capability?

Rashid Latif: They can change their game but it will affect a lot of things. Now you’ve spoken about Rohit Sharma so see, Rohit Sharma wanted to play the same way in Tests, he wanted the aggressive approach. However, it flopped. His style flopped in Tests and this led to a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, something that was unimaginable. So one must think how to play each format.

Rohit Sharma in one-day cricket was able to adapt very well. He changed the mindset in ODIs and it worked out very well. They reached the finals during the 2023 World Cup in India. He seemed like a different player. As for T20Is, all of them can play like this, but playing like this in ODIs is very hard. So a lot of credit must go to Rohit Sharma and the way he has brought about a change in ODIs for India. The way he changed everything in the entire Indian team. However, that same style backfired in Tests and it massively flopped in Tests. I think he scored a 50 in one match and was dismissed by a fast bowler only. Although, there weren’t many fast bowlers. Despite having a good defense, he got out while trying to hit a shot, a cross-shot if I’m not wrong.

As far as Babar and Rizwan are concerned, I feel that it will be hard for them to change their approach like Rohit Sharma, they’re a different category of players. Their defense is very strong. They need time while batting. They generally need time to settle. They need to shift their T20I game though. Either they should shift their T20I numbers and change their game or else get a few youngsters in the side for a few games, and develop them. They can change their game but there are a lot of new players like Saim Ayub.

On Babar Azam’s form…

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Babar Azam is unarguably one of the best players in the world. He’s been one of the best of this era. He’s been a consistent batter throughout his career. However his form of late hasn’t really been good. So what’s your opinion on his current bad phase? What do you think about his form in the last 1 year?

Rashid Latif: Babar Azam’s form hasn’t really been good. He’s getting dismissed a lot more frequently in Tests. Even in T20Is, his form hasn’t been good. He needs to work really hard according to me. He needs a lot more practice, he needs to work on his shortcomings. He needs to rectify his faults. Babar needs to see what kinds of issues he’s having, how he’s getting out, he needs to work on that.

Babar needs to address his flaws, he needs to find out if the problems are technical, tactical or just in the head. He needs to see If the problem lies in his game or if something is bothering him mentally. I mean him stepping down as a captain, then becoming the captain again, and then his team getting knocked out of the World Cup, there was mental stress and that probably impacted his game.

His batting in T20Is, I mean he’s trying to bat well, he’s trying to take a different style, but the issue is he can’t bat like Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Sharma and the others. He has his own style. He should play according to his own style. He should then battle out his mental stress and try to overcome that. He’s no longer the captain so that stress won’t be there. I feel like it’ll be good if he’s kept away from T20Is.

On the Champions Trophy in Pakistan….

Arvind Kalyana Krishnan: Now the Champions Trophy is set to take place in Pakistan next year. The hosting rights are with Pakistan and they’ve started the preparations. However, everyday we hear reports about the BCCI not wanting to send their Indian team, a possibility of there being a hybrid model. India don’t want to come to Pakistan. We still don’t have any clarity. BCCI, PCB and ICC are still in talks. So do you think that Pakistan would agree to a hybrid model? What are your thoughts on this whole issue?

Rashid Latif: See in bilateral games and tournaments like the Asia Cup, it’s all ok if India or Pakistan don’t participate but this is an ICC tournament and everyone has to play. This opportunity has come after a long time. I mean after a long time India has to come to Pakistan to play an ICC tournament. This has been approved from all the cricket boards in the world, the ICC, all the authorities including India are included.

As for the new scenario, political narratives keep getting made…..See both teams will certainly play. I don’t know where but both teams will surely play against each other. There are a lot of things at stake. Broadcasters have a lot at stake. There’s some 3 billion at stake. So there’s no way they will say that it’s ok for India and Pakistan to not play against each other. I feel that the Pakistan Cricket Board will also somehow agree and come to a conclusion on where to play and what to do. This is because the cricketing world depends on it. The cricketing world depends on the India-Pakistan match. So in my opinion, it will happen. I don’t know where but the PCB, BCCI and ICC will surely plan something. Other people can make a fool out of the audience but they will certainly play.