"The kind of days we live for" - Babar Azam unwinds by playing padel tennis with his brother after Pakistan's 2025 Champions Trophy exit

Pakistan's ace batter Babar Azam was recently seen playing a game of padel tennis with his brother Safeer Azam in Lahore. The two were joined by their friends, including cricketers Imam-ul-Haq and Usman Qadir.

Babar unwinded following the Men in Green's disappointing 2025 Champions Trophy campaign. The hosts and defending champions suffered an embarrassing group-stage exit following back-to-back losses to New Zealand and India. Their final group match against Bangladesh was washed out due to rain. Babar scored 87 runs across two innings in the competition.

The 30-year-old enjoyed a game of padel tennis ahead of his next cricketing assignment. Giving fans a glimpse of the game, Safeer posted on Instagram:

"The kind of days we live For 🤍😇."

Babar Azam was asked to open the batting for Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy after Saim Ayub was ruled out due to injury. He scored a half-century in the side's opening match against New Zealand. However, he was criticized for his strike rate as he finished with 60 runs off 90 balls while chasing a 321-run target.

The right-handed batter was off to a decent start in the subsequent clash with arch-rivals India but failed to convert it into a big score. He scored 23 runs off 26 balls in the marquee encounter.

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"Why on earth will you send him to No. 1? " - Former Pakistan coach feels Babar Azam should have continued playing at No. 3 in 2025 Champions Trophy

Former Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam believes that playing Babar Azam as an opener in the 2025 Champions Trophy was a wrong move by the team management. He suggested that the team's best batter should bat at No. 3 in ODIs.

He reckoned that Babar himself should have refused to open the innings. Alam was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times:

"Why on earth will you send him to No. 1? He’s not an opener. No. 3 is the backbone of a batting lineup, and your best bet should come in that position, and he should have been told by the coaches to stay there for the entire duration and get a century."

"If he got you a hundred and someone else chipped in with 50 or 60-odd, you’d have nearly 300 runs on the board, and that’s how you should be playing. Even Babar should have refused to change his batting position. I don’t know who convinced him to open the innings. It was a bad decision," he added.

Pakistan will tour New Zealand later this month to play five T20Is and three ODIs. Recent reports indicate that Babar Azam and a few senior players could be overlooked for the T20I matches.