Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has suggested that star duo Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi should take a break from cricket to rediscover their form.
Azhar, who has represented Pakistan in 97 Tests and 53 ODIs, shared his views during an Eid special on a local news channel, where he participated in a rapid-fire round.
When asked to advise the two players, the former Test batsman suggested staying away from international cricket.
“Babar should take a six-month break from international cricket,” he said.
“He (Shaheen) also needs to take three months off so that he can regain his fitness. I think if he takes two or three months off, he will come back as a good bowler,” he added.
Both players have come under scrutiny following poor performances in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Babar, the highest run-scorer in T20Is, managed just 91 runs at an average of 22.75 in six matches, with 46 being his highest score.
As a result, he was dropped from the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh, although Akib Javed later revealed that the batsman was not fully fit during the tournament.
Meanwhile, Shaheen took eight wickets in five matches but conceded runs at an economy rate of 10.52.
In their latest match against Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series, Pakistan recorded their second series defeat against Bengal Tigers at home in 11 years after a 3-0 whitewash in 2015.
The right-handed batsman was left out of Pakistan’s squad, along with new international debutants like Shamail Hussain, Sahibzada Farhan, Saad Masood, Qazi Ghori, Abdul Samad and Mas Sadaq.