Waqar Younis: "Babar Azam is a superstar", but "the sad part for Babar is that he is alone"

Former Pakistan captain Waqar Younis has named Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi as Pakistan's current cricket superstars, and said Babar's problem is that he has no one batting alongside him at his level, ARY News reported on Thursday 29 October 2026.

Waqar was speaking on the podcast Unplugged, hosted by Indian presenter Shubhankar Mishra. Asked who Pakistan's last superstar was, with the host suggesting fast bowler Mohammad Amir, Waqar answered: "Babar Azam is a superstar, Shaheen Afridi is a superstar."

"He is alone"

Waqar defended Babar against criticism of his recent form. "The sad part for Babar is that he is alone," he said, arguing that when one batter has to carry a side, "the pressure on him increases". He compared today's line-up with the 1990s and asked how many Pakistani batters other than Babar most fans could name now.

When the host said Sachin Tendulkar had also carried India's batting early in his career, Waqar disagreed: Tendulkar had Sanjay Manjrekar and Navjot Singh Sidhu with him, and later Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. He said Babar's fast start had set expectations very high and compared the scrutiny to what Virat Kohli faces.

Babar's numbers

Figures from ARY News and Dawn.

Next: the final on Saturday

Babar's next chance to answer is the tri-series final against Sri Lanka on Saturday 31 October at 1:30pm PKT at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. One more hundred would take him past Saeed Anwar's record. Coach Mike Hesson said on Thursday he expects "big players to stand up in big games". Every result, the table and how to watch are on our Pakistan tri-series page.