Mohammad Hafeez

A lean onto the front foot in amalgamation of the high elbow giving way to a serene cover drive describes Mohammad Hafeez, the best. A tuck or a clip off the pads looks equally elegant when Hafeez is at work. And so does the flat darts which hard to score off in the limited overs. To complete his repertoire, he stands at point to intervene the fiery cut shots. A man who can walk into any side, Hafeez took his time, good seven years to be a man for all formats.

An opening batsman and a more than decent off-spinner, Mohammad Hafeez, came into the Pakistan side after their disastrous exit from the 2003 World Cup. He made a promising start to his Test career, scoring a half-century on debut against Bangladesh and followed it up with a century in the next match. His performances though were more troughs than crests and he had to sit out of the Test unit for two 3 year periods. Once between 2003-2006 and then from 2007-2010. But strong domestic performances brought him back in November 2010 and since then he has been a permanent in Test line-up.

The numbers in ODIs also remained dwarfed with a few notable exceptions far and few in between in his formative years at the top level. But like the Tests, the ODI numbers also were bolstered upon his return to the side in September 2010. 11 ODI tons(all of them away) from 2011-2015 at the top of the order ensured Pakistan post Saeed Anwar's retirement had someone elegant as well as solid to counter the opposition. More than 100 wickets at an economy rate of tad over 4 only made him more indispensable till his action was questioned by the ICC in June 2015. He remodelled his action and made it to the ODI side which toured Australia in early 2017. Initially left out of the squad, he replaced an injured Azhar Ali.

Nicknamed as 'the professor', Mohammad Hafeez has captained Pakistan in all formats. Once in Tests and twice in ODIs. But it is the T20Is where he was at the helm for a decent period of time. He skippered the Pakistani unit in 29 T20I games, winning 17 and losing 11 of them. But that period involved two World cups in 2012, where they made it to the semis and in 2014, where they didn't qualify for the semis for the first time. That unsuccessful tourney brought down curtains on his captaincy career. As a T20 player, he was awarded the Man of the Series award in 2012 against India in a 2-match T20I series which ended in a deadlock.

World Cup through the years:

Mohammad Hafeez is all set to make a comeback in the 2019 World Cup after missing out in the last World Cup due to a calf injury. Before that, Hafeez was a part of Pakistan's World Cup campaign in 2007 and 2011 World Cup. Hafeez just like his team was disappointing in the 2007 campaign. He chipped in with a couple of wickets against West Indies but as a batsman, he flopped and was dropped from the team for Pakistan's final match. In the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan did much better and so did Hafeez. He ended up as Pakistan's third highest run-getter but lacked the requisite consistency. Against India, in a crucial semi-final, Hafeez gave Pakistan an ideal start and was looking in his elements. But the pressure of big occasion got to him and he was dismissed playing a dreadful shot. His dismissal opened up the gates for India and they restricted Pakistan from chasing 261. Hafeez will go into 2019 World Cup as one of the most experienced players in the Pakistan line-up. His role will be different from the previous World Cups as he will be playing in the middle order instead of an opener. Hafeez is a very handy off-spin prospect too especially against the left-handers.


By Kumar Abhisekh Das