Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez has slammed the PR agencies who hyped Babar Azam as the ‘King’ in social media and added that if anyone deserves the title will be Virat Kohli.
Hafeez’s comments come after an exceptional performance from Virat Kohli who slammed his 51st ODI century during India’s chase of 241 runs against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Kohli finished his hundred with a four and also completed India’s innings. In Sharp contrast, former Pakistan Babar Azam was not able to do well despite getting off to a solid start.
Babar Azam scored 23 runs off 26 deliveries in a show of intent in the first powerplay, but got out to Hardik Pandya’s harmless delivery in the 9th over of the match.
Speaking after the match, Hafeez hailed Virat Kohli as the big match player and said that Kohli has scored runs all across the world and deserves the title of ‘King’.
“Virat is high stage performer. He looks out for big occasions and performs. Whenever India plays against Pakistan, you get a chance to star in those matches.”
“Shoaib Malik bowled well against India, that’s where he became a star, Shahid Afridi became a star when he hit sixes against India.”
“Virat Kohli keeps waiting for those occasions, he waits to cash in on those opportunities. He keeps a positive mindset, he thinks that ‘I will win the match for India.”
“I will not only play, but I will win the match for my country.’ And that’s why he is the greatest batter in the world,” Mohammad Hafeez said after the match.
“In reality, if someone deserves to be called King, it is Virat Kohli, and not Babar Azam. Look at his performance. He has performed all across the world, not become a king by employing PR. Call out those spokespersons, show them the mirror,” he added.
Pakistan has lost two matches in a row in the Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. With the loss against India, Pakistan are all knocked out of the tournament.
But the hosts has depend of all of the remaining matches and also have to win their final game against Bangladesh by big margin. Pakistan will have to play their next match against Bangladesh on February 27 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
