Waqar Younis’ cracking response after Mohammad Hafeez tarnishes legacy of '90s Pakistan stars

Waqar Younis has posted a rather cryptic post of his and Wasim Akram's combined records in the two fast bowling greats' prolific careers. The fact that he said "90’s KA LONDA (Boys from the 1990's)" in all caps puts the tweet as a possible response to former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez questioning the legacy of the star names that played in that period. Mohammad Hafeez pointed that the star-studded Pakistan teams of the late 1990s never won an ICC trophy

Waqar posted a picture of him and Wasim along with the text in his post on X. All of this comes in the aftermath of a forgettable campaign for Pakistan in the 2025 Champions Trophy, the first major cricket tournament that the country was hosting in nearly three decades. Pakistan often looked out of their depth in the two matches they played against New Zealand and arch-rivals India, suffering heavy defeats that knocked them out of the tournament. Their last match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi was washed out.

What Mohammad Hafeez said…

Hafeez said that the great names that played in the 1990s for Pakistan didn't really leave “anything” behind for the players that came later as they failed to win all the ICC trophies that came after winning the 1992 World Cup. He said it with former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar in the panel. Shoaib often formed Pakistan's fast bowling trio with Wasim and Waqar in the late 1990s.

“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,” said Hafeez on OutSide Edge Live

"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 then in 2007 we lost the final (of the T20 World Cup). In 2009 we won under Younis Khan's captaincy and so there was an inspiration for the next generation."

Shoaib later stated that Pakistan's vastly superior head-to-head against arch-rivals India in ODI cricket is because of the victories that his side enjoyed in the 1990s. “These 73 one-dayers that Pakistan won against India, it is us who won it,” said Shoaib.

“No doubt, and there has been a very strong legacy since the time of Imran Khan. There was some great cricket played during their time as well,” said after that to which Shoaib replied: “No you can't cover up now, this video has been made already. You've already spoken about all big players.”

While there is yet to be any changes announced in the ODI setup, Pakistan have replaced Mohammad Rizwan as captain of the T20I side with Salman Agha. It is the fourth time that they have changed their skipper in T20Is since January last year with Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam both being in the post in this period.

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