NEW DELHI: Pakistan pace legend Waqar Younis has taken a dig at former cricketer Mohammad Hafeez after the latter questioned the legacy of stars from the 1990s and early 2000s. Waqar’s response came after Hafeez, during a live television show, claimed that the stars of that era failed to inspire future generations due to their inability to win ICC events.
“I am a huge fan of those who played in the 1990s, but when it comes to legacy, they left nothing for Pakistan. They didn’t win an ICC event – they lost the (World Cups of) 1996, 1999, and 2003. We reached one final (in the 1999 World Cup) and lost that badly. As stars, as players, they were the mega superstars. But then they couldn’t inspire us by winning an ICC event. Then came a difficult period that we had to go through, and in 2007, we lost the final (of the T20 World Cup),” Hafeez had said on PTV Sports.
“In 2009, we won under Younis Khan’s captaincy, and that became an inspiration for the next generation. Then, unfortunately, a bad incident happened with Pakistan cricket, and we have still not been able to recover from that. Then we won the 2017 Champions Trophy, which was a huge source of inspiration. People idolise Babar Azam today, and that is because even if he didn’t play a big hand in that event, he was there. So that thing about winning ICC events, the superstars of the 1990s couldn’t do, with all due respect to their talents,” he added.
Younis responded on social media by posting a photo with fellow legend Wasim Akram, captioning it “90’s KA LONDA.”
Alongside the caption, he also highlighted the number of Test and ODI matches played, as well as the wickets taken by him and Akram.
Pakistan had a disappointing campaign in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, suffering a humiliating defeat against New Zealand in their opening match, followed by a loss to India, which saw them fail to reach the semifinals.
They finished at the bottom of the Group A table with just one point and a net run rate (NRR) of -1.087.
