RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AP) — Babar Azam has an opportunity to answer all the questions from Pakistan coach Mike Hesson over his technique and skillset in Twenty20 cricket in three matches against South Africa from Tuesday.
Babar, who needs only nine runs to break Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in men's T20 internationals, hasn't been selected in the format since December. In that time, Pakistan has played 26 T20s.
Babar has 4,223 runs at an average of 39.83, but Hesson had concerns over his strike rate of 129.22. He also wanted improvement in Babar’s technique.
Since taking over in July, Hesson has favored Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman for the top three batting slots.
Without Babar, Pakistan won a home series against Bangladesh before losing 2-1 in Bangladesh. Pakistan also won 2-1 against the West Indies and the tri-series in the United Arab Emirates before losing three times to India in the “no handshake” Asia Cup.
The absence of Zaman for the South Africa series has forced Hesson to “endorse” Babar at No. 3, a batting position where he has 1,166 runs in 35 T20s at an average of 44.84.
According to Hesson, Zaman wanted to play in first-class cricket to gear up for the one-day international series against South Africa in Faisalabad next month, and team management agreed to give the left-hander a break from T20s.
“It’s a great opportunity to get Babar back into the squad," Hesson said. "He’s likely to bat at three so it’s a role that I’m very confident that he’ll be able to do well, and it also gives our squad some options coming into the World Cup.”
Babar has a strong fan base and he drew loud cheers in Lahore and Rawalpindi during the drawn test series against South Africa. The moment Babar was out, large numbers of spectators left the stadiums.
Babar scored 131 runs in four test innings against South Africa, falling to spinners three times. His top score of 50 was not enough to save Pakistan from an eight-wicket loss at Rawalpindi in the second test.
Injury to David Miller forced the Proteas to hand over the T20 captaincy to Donovan Ferreira, who recently endured a shocking four-wicket loss to Namibia in a one-off game. Miller strained his right hamstring during a training camp at home.
Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was also ruled out of the white-ball tour to Pakistan because of a pectoral muscle injury he sustained against Namibia, where he was limited to 1.3 overs. Another promising fast bowler, Kwena Maphaka, was ruled out with a hamstring strain.
Matthew Breetzke, who will lead South Africa in the ODIs against Pakistan, and uncapped Tony de Zorzi were drafted into the T20 squad.
The series marks the return of Quinton de Kock in the white-ball format after the left-hander reversed his ODI retirement last month. He hasn’t played in the shortest format last year’s T20 World Cup final loss to India.
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
Pakistan's Babar Azam reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the first day of the second test cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa, at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Pakistan's Babar Azam reacts as he walks off the field after his dismissal during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Pakistan's Babar Azam bats during the third day of the first test cricket match between Pakistan and South Africa, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
HAMIMA, Syria (AP) — A trickle of civilians left a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday after a warning by the Syrian military to evacuate ahead of an anticipated government military offensive against Kurdish-led forces.
Government officials and some residents who managed to get out said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces prevented people from leaving via the corridor designated by the military along the main road leading west from the town of Maskana through Deir Hafer to the town of Hamima.
The SDF denied the reports that they were blocking the evacuation.
In Hamima, ambulances and government officials were gathered beginning early in the morning waiting to receive the evacuees and take them to shelters, but few arrived.
Farhat Khorto, a member of the executive office of Aleppo Governorate who was waiting there, claimed that there were "nearly two hundred civilian cars and hundreds of people who wanted to leave” the Deir Hafer area but that they were prevented by the SDF. He said the SDF was warning residents they could face “sniping operations or booby-trapped explosives” along that route.
Some families said they got out of the evacuation zone by taking back roads or going part of the distance on foot.
“We tried to leave this morning, but the SDF prevented us. So we left on foot … we walked about seven to eight kilometers until we hit the main road, and there the civil defense took us and things were good then,” said Saleh al-Othman, who said he fled Deir Hafer with more than 50 relatives.
Yasser al-Hasno, also from Deir Hafer, said he and his family left via back roads because the main routes were closed and finally crossed a small river on foot to get out of the evacuation area.
Another Deir Hafer resident who crossed the river on foot, Ahmad al-Ali, said, “We only made it here by bribing people. They still have not allowed a single person to go through the main crossing."
Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the SDF, said the allegations that the group had prevented civilians from leaving were “baseless.” He suggested that government shelling was deterring residents from moving.
The SDF later issued a statement also denying that it had blocked civilians from fleeing. It said that “any displacement of civilians under threat of force by Damascus constitutes a war crime" and called on the international community to condemn it.
“Today, the people of Deir Hafer have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their land and homes, and no party can deprive them of their right to remain there under military pressure,” it said.
The Syrian army’s announcement late Wednesday — which said civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday — appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo. Already there have been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.
Thursday evening, the military said it would extend the humanitarian corridor for another day.
The Syrian military called on the SDF and other armed groups to withdraw to the other side of the Euphrates River, to the east of the contested zone. The SDF controls large swaths of northeastern Syria east of the river.
The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo city that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters and government forces taking control of three contested neighborhoods.
The fighting broke out as negotiations have stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached last March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, which was formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF for years has been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkey.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration has also developed close ties with the government of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and has so far avoided publicly taking sides in the clashes in Aleppo.
Ilham Ahmed, head of foreign relations for the SDF-affiliated Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, at a press conference Thursday said SDF officials were in contact with the United States and Turkey and had presented several initiatives for de-escalation. She said that claims by Damascus that the SDF had failed to implement the March agreement were false.
——
Associated Press journalist Hogir Al Abdo in Qamishli, Syria, contributed.
Members of the Syrian military police stand at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, stand next to their vehicles at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A displaced Syrian family rides in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army next to a river in the village of Rasm Al-Abboud, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Displaced Syrian children and women ride in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Displaced Syrians at a river crossing near the village of Jarirat al Imam, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
