Sat Mar 08 02:30:16 UTC 2025: ## Waqar Younis Fires Back at Hafeez’s Criticism of 90s Cricket Legacy

**LAHORE, PAKISTAN** – A fiery exchange has erupted between Pakistan cricket legends Waqar Younis and Mohammad Hafeez over the legacy of Pakistan’s 1990s and early 2000s cricket stars. The dispute ignited after Hafeez, during a PTV Sports broadcast, controversially claimed that the era’s players, despite their individual brilliance, failed to inspire future generations due to a lack of ICC tournament victories.

Hafeez highlighted the team’s losses in the 1996, 1999, and 2003 Cricket World Cups, contrasting them with Pakistan’s 2009 T20 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy wins, which he credited with inspiring current stars like Babar Azam.

Waqar Younis responded swiftly on social media, posting combined statistics for himself and Wasim Akram from the 90s era. The tweet, boasting impressive figures including over 1700 wickets and 8500 runs between them, was accompanied by the hashtag #NotBad, a clear rebuttal to Hafeez’s assessment.

This public disagreement comes as Pakistan’s cricket team concluded a disastrous Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. As defending champions and hosts, Pakistan finished bottom of their group with a single point and a net run rate of -1.087, a record-breaking poor performance surpassing even Australia’s previous worst showing in the tournament. The team’s failure to win a single match against New Zealand, India, and only drawing with Bangladesh, only adds fuel to the already intense debate surrounding the state of Pakistan cricket. The contrasting views of Hafeez and Younis highlight a deep division in assessing the country’s cricketing history and its impact on the future of the sport in Pakistan.

Read More