Did Pakistan miss Mohammad Hafeez in Sri Lanka Test series?

[The_Odd_One]

He is certainly a better batsman than Shaan, specially on flat tracks in the UAE, Hafeez is a dangerous batsman who can score big hundreds at a good SR.

His bowling is something that I think Pakistan have missed the most.

Yasir has been overbowled. Hafeez could have shared some bowling workload with him. Pakistan definitely missed a 2nd spinner.

 

[Rayyman]

Chill we haven't lost yet.

Yea we probably will though.

I think Hafeez should be recalled; But not as an opener to replace Shan, as a middle-order batsman to replace Shafiq or Babar.

We are lacking experience.

 

[ads101]

We don't but goes to show when people bashed Hafeez so much, we don't have amazing openers and Hafeez at least did the job in UAE plus his bowling was useful. People go on about him being our worst batsman ever bringing up his away record outside of Asia, but tbh he's been our best opener since Anwar (excluding Azhar) which is a little embarrassing to say the least.

Hafeez is past it now, and quite frankly if Azhar was opening, we wouldn't need to select two mediocre opening batsmen. Masood, Sami and Babar all need to be dropped, and bring in the guys with great first class records like Usman Salluhuddin and Fawad Alam.

 

[Madplayer]

They missed their brains.

 

[Adil_94]

yes in UAE Hafeez is a very good option. his last test series he helped us beat England.

but the issue is that he is a tailender outside Asia well if he bats in the top 3.

if Hafeez was willing to bat at 6 or 7 then id have him back. but not as a top order bat because we need to find openers who can bat in all conditions.

what we really need is an all rounder to balance our side. What id give for a Razzaq style player.

 

[Savak]

Hafeez can't bowl too many overs, his workload should just be limited to ODI and T-20 Cricket. If he bowls too many overs, high chances he will end up chucking again.

 

[Markhor]

I'd take Hafeez over Shan of the Dead ten times out of ten in UAE conditions.

 

[MMsheikh2000]

Pakistan need to go with an all rounder in twsts, we can't overly rely on Yasir to get all the wickets
Honestly we need to go with the following

1-Sami Aslam
2- Azhar Ali
3- Asad Shafiq
4-Fawad Alam
5- Muhammad Hafeez
6-Haris Sohail
7- Sarfraz
8- Yasir
9- Amir
10- Asghar in Asia/ Hassan Ali otherwise
11- Abbas

 

[Cuts_and_cuts_hard]

Lol of course not. Rubbish player.

 

[Mamoon]

Yes because when he gets going he bats at an excellent strike rate.

 

[lehen]

Brilliant cricketer, merits a place

 

[another drop catch]

yeah but only in u.a.e

 

[RickyG]

Yes. His batting in the subcontinent is much much better than anyone else in this team (Azhar Ali included). Missed a second spinner/5th bowler big time.

 

[shariqnoor]

Have always supported his inclusion in Asian conditions. He shouldn't be picked for tours to South Africa, England and NZ. Why we don't adopt a horses for courses policy I don't get it.

 

[MMHS]

Actually yes.

But, PAK missed Imran & Akram in AUS, Waquar & Inzi in NZ, Ajmal & Anwar in this series as well. Looking at the top 3, probably Mazid & Zaheer as well .... unfortunate that Hanif Sab has passed away, otherwise ...

 

[Syed1]

Yes because when he gets going he bats at an excellent strike rate.

But but but strike rate doesn't matter in tests


#Chisti Mujahids of PP

 

[Big Mac]

It's that old inferiority complex of "He can't score runs outside Asia so he's crap".

This ignores the fact that

A) We play most of our games in Asia.

B) Most of the replacements can't score runs no matter where the game is played.

I'm not a fan of his but there's no doubting he was an important part of the team and underrated by Pakistan fans.

 

[Savak]

It's that old inferiority complex of "He can't score runs outside Asia so he's crap".

This ignores the fact that

A) We play most of our games in Asia.

B) Most of the replacements can't score runs no matter where the game is played.

I'm not a fan of his but there's no doubting he was an important part of the team and underrated by Pakistan fans.

Pakistan need him more in ODI and T-20 Cricket, given the crackdown on chucking, his bowling action could go haywire if he ends up bowling 15-20 overs a day.

 

[Big Mac]

Pakistan need him more in ODI and T-20 Cricket, given the crackdown on chucking, his bowling action could go haywire if he ends up bowling 15-20 overs a day.

He was invaluable in ODI cricket. Left handed opener? Open the bowling with Hafeez and scoring became impossible, then bring him back in the middle overs. Meant we could fit an extra batsman into the team, any runs he scored were almost a bonus.

 

[New Yorker]

Chill we haven't lost yet.

Yea we probably will though.

I think Hafeez should be recalled; But not as an opener to replace Shan, as a middle-order batsman to replace Shafiq or Babar.

We are lacking experience.

Hafeez is the last man you want to rely on for solidity when the chips are down. He could be an ODI no 6 like in the CT final but is a terrible choice for Tests. And we wont' play in the UAE for a while now. His time is over.

 

[Abdullah]

In uae yes

 

[the Great Khan]

we missed him in this short series. It would have helped to have an experienced player in the dressing room.

 

[hadi123]

We missed an off spinning all rounder. I would have preferred Agha Salman but Hafeez, in these conditions, would probably have been useful.

 

[MMHS]

He was invaluable in ODI cricket. Left handed opener? Open the bowling with Hafeez and scoring became impossible, then bring him back in the middle overs. Meant we could fit an extra batsman into the team, any runs he scored were almost a bonus.

With his revised action - he bowled one over to a struggling lefti, that too coming at 33/3 - rest is as they say history.

You can't run only the statguru and tell that this guy bowled at 3.83/35/55 stats - that too mostly in PP.

 

[Plumb]

Fans shouldn't complain when PCB recall oldies back into the team because these type of threads suggest we all want the kamis hafeez and farhats back in the team. if you really want to look for solutions look at the domestic and pick your best. You may not have anyone available then groom someone at that level rather than looking back as to what is available.