Pakistan stars Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan have a meal together in Mecca [Watch]

Pakistan stalwarts Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan were recently spotted having a meal together in Mecca after the team's campaign concluded in the 2025 Champions Trophy. The Men in Green endured a poor run in the tournament despite being the hosts and suffered a group-stage elimination.

India and New Zealand beat them in their first two Group A games, while the dead rubber against Bangladesh got washed out. As a result, Pakistan ended the Champions Trophy without a win and only played one match at home in an ICC tournament they hosted after 29 years.

Pakistan's linchpins, Muhammad Rizwan and Babar Azam, did not have a great time with the bat, which was reflected in the team's performances.

After the disappointing Champions Trophy campaign, Babar and Rizwan traveled to Mecca for a spiritual trip. An Instagram user shared a couple of videos to give fans a glimpse of the duo in Mecca, having a meal and performing Umrah.

You can watch the videos below:

The Pakistan cricket team will next travel to New Zealand for a five-match T20I and three-match ODI series. Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan have been dropped from the T20I squad but retained their spots in the ODI side for the tour.

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"If you had guts, you would have rested them for both the series" - Basit Ali about Pakistan selectors' retaining Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan in ODIs for NZ tour

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali recently opined that the selectors were afraid of social media, which influenced their decision not to drop Babar and Rizwan from the ODI squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour. Speaking on the matter in his YouTube video, Ali said:

"They removed Rizwan and Babar from T20Is but put them in the ODI team. If you had the guts, you would have rested them for both the series, but they didn't because they are afraid of social media. How did Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi come? They dropped them from ODIs and brought them into T20Is."

He continued:

"Yeh hoti hai jaan pehchan (This is acquaintance). I am not saying they are bad bowlers, but when you removed Rizwan on the performance of Champions Trophy, then these two also didn't deserve to be in the side. I will take a few names."

"The likes of Faisal Akram, Arafat Minhas, Haseebullah Khan, Khurram Shahzad and Qasim Akram were missing from the squads. There was nobody from U19. This team is made on the basis of likes and dislikes."

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Do you agree with Basit Ali's views above? Let us know your opinions in the comments section.