Mohammad Hafeez, a former Pakistan cricketer, launched a blistering attack on star batsman Babar Azam following his dismal performance against India in the second Champions Trophy match.

Pakistan batted first against India in Dubai after Mohammad Rizwan won the toss. Babar Azam looked terrific in the middle, hitting his usual cover drives and scoring 23 runs in a row, including five fours.

However, Hardik Pandya caught Babar in the same shot, and KL Rahul followed him. While Saud Shakeel scored 62, Mohammad Rizwan 46, and Khushdil Shah 38, Pakistan employed an excessive number of dot balls and struggled in the final overs, scoring only 241 runs.

Mohammad Hafeez criticized Babar Azam on the show 'Game on Hai' for his bad performance and form. Notably, Babar Azam's admirers have branded him 'King' after Hassan Ali disclosed that everyone in the Pakistan dressing room refers to him as 'King'.

Hafeez's comments came after Pakistan, the hosts and defending champions, lost to India by six wickets in Dubai on Sunday. He claimed that Virat Kohli, who led India to victory, is the true king, rather than Babar Azam.

“Babar Azam is not the true king. It is Virat Kohli. Look at his performances. He has dominated all over the world. Get out of your PR machinery. We need a performer. Babar Azam is a good product. You tell me his one player of the match performance against India,” Mohammad Hafeez said on the show “Game On Hai.”

He compared Babar's contributions to those of past Pakistani cricketers who delivered in crunch moments against India.

“Why do we always remember Shoaib Akhtar’s performances against India. Why Younis Khan is a big name when we talk about the India-Pakistan match. Shoaib Malik has had big performances against India. Tell me Babar Azam, the best Pakistani product that has come in the past 10 years. Tell me his one good performance against India,” Hafeez added.

Hafeez also compared Babar to Inzamam ul Haq and said that someone needs to show Babar the mirror and tell him the truth.

“Babar Azam is not Inzamam-ul-Haq. Inzi bhai used to win matches for Pakistan in difficult conditions. Babar Azam has not won a single match against India to date. He is playing for the past 10 years and has never become a player of the series in SENA countries. In Australia or England he has never led Pakistan to victory.

We need to show them the mirror. We need to realize that those who we are banking on are not performing and we should move on from them. Give the opportunity to them who are waiting in the system,” Hafeez said.

With four points, India leads the group and is almost certain to advance to the semifinals. It will face New Zealand in its last league game in Dubai on March 2. Pakistan returns to play Bangladesh on Thursday, facing a humiliating exit from its home event.