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Is Mohammad Hafeez Pakistan’s best batsman?

Literally a handful of slogs in T20 cricket and now he’s a ATG. Some have gone as far as saying he’s better than Babar Azam. Hafeez is and will forever be mediocre. Babar has achieved more in all formats at 25. Than Hafeez at 44.
 
Audrey500 said:
Literally a handful of slogs in T20 cricket and now he’s a ATG. Some have gone as far as saying he’s better than Babar Azam. Hafeez is and will forever be mediocre. Babar has achieved more in all formats at 25. Than Hafeez at 44.
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Not sure you’ve been watching Hafeez these days. Not a single slog from him that I’ve seen in two years. It’s all pure timing.
 
Tag me the day babar play a similar knock, and I am talking only about t20s before you getting your knickers in twist.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohammad Hafeez "Chris Gayle was talking about the willow so I told him I don't have muscles like you so I need to have a better bat than anyone else" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/psl6?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#psl6</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LQvQG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LQvQG</a> <a href="https://t.co/NlHeWWDpYt">pic.twitter.com/NlHeWWDpYt</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1363915067348181008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 22, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


"I believe I have been working on this for the last 1.5 years where I try not to hit the ball very hard but time it better"
 
Given the form he is in, Hafeez is in the top 3 t20 batsmen in the world right now, if not the best.
He is an extreme late bloomer, coming into his own at 40.
Still fit as a fiddle and should continue till the 2023 world cup atleast.
 
Pacy with wisdom said:
Given the form he is in, Hafeez is in the top 3 t20 batsmen in the world right now, if not the best.
He is an extreme late bloomer, coming into his own at 40.
Still fit as a fiddle and should continue till the 2023 world cup atleast.
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2027 on the cards?
 
Proud to support Hafeez.

When 90% of the forum couldn't see how big of an asset he is, in a team that has no proper stroke players and effortless six hitters that time the ball so well.

People preferred Malik, Sarfraz, Khushdil etc over him.

Hilarious.
[MENTION=133760]Abdullah719[/MENTION]
 
I think we all need to take this new Hafeez in the context of the world at the moment.

There is no doubt that Hafeez has improved a lot in the last few years.

However to say he’s the best player in the world at the moment is just so far fetched. May I remind you all that he’s playing in such a sub standard t20 league that these results should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Furthermore international t20 cricket in the last year and half has also been played with less sprit because of the pandemic and the ODI World Cup prior to that.

Hafeez is very smart. He’s avoided playing in the Pakistani domestic circuit because he’s realised it’ll only hinder his form. He’s chosen to play in all the other leagues to sustain his form. Hats off to him and I do feel he should go to the World Cup. But I don’t expect him to win Pakistan anything because at the end of the day he’s always been an average player and always will be.
 
Azrim_91 said:
I think we all need to take this new Hafeez in the context of the world at the moment.

There is no doubt that Hafeez has improved a lot in the last few years.

However to say he’s the best player in the world at the moment is just so far fetched. May I remind you all that he’s playing in such a sub standard t20 league that these results should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Furthermore international t20 cricket in the last year and half has also been played with less sprit because of the pandemic and the ODI World Cup prior to that.

Hafeez is very smart. He’s avoided playing in the Pakistani domestic circuit because he’s realised it’ll only hinder his form. He’s chosen to play in all the other leagues to sustain his form. Hats off to him and I do feel he should go to the World Cup. But I don’t expect him to win Pakistan anything because at the end of the day he’s always been an average player and always will be.
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Hafeez played domestic cricket for KPK. Also I suppose T20Is against England and New Zealand also count as substandard?
 
The biggest question we should ask ourselves is why Hafeez is succeeding at this stage of his career? What has he figured out about the T20 format which others don't see?

There are a few answers to that question. Firstly, he gives himself time to settle into the pitch and the conditions available. He starts off around a 120-130ish strike rate before accelerating, and he usually accelerates by focusing on one bowler to gain his momentum. He makes sure not to try and clobber good deliveries, and has good footwork. He has developed shots to get off strike, and focuses mostly on placing the ball in areas where the boundary percentage is high.

He plays all around the wicket, and his timing has been extremely good recently allowing him to time the ball over the boundary.

He is easily our best T20 batsman on current form, and he is a very good asset to the team.
 
Great to see. With three world cups coming up, Hafeez has hit form at the perfect time. Now I just hope he saves some for the tournament that matters.

Our top three is settled for good. It should be:

Rizwan
Babar
Hafeez

Just need to fill out the next three spots with sloggers and we're all set.
 
He really is blessed with talent, and I hope it doesn’t disappear when we need him the most. Too many times he’s looked like a million dollars in these type of forgotten games. Even David Gower was fan girling over some of the shots, so you know he is world class even at 40. But we wanna see this at the world t20 knockouts (which iA we will get to).
 
Hafeez is blooming these days Some superb shots today

Hes been on fire in t20s over the last year or so
 
Mashallah Hafeez! He is so classy these days, he is an absolute pleasure to watch. Silky smooth like Mohammed Yousuf. Absolutely loved it and long may it continue inshallah!
 
I have never been a Hafeez fan but he is an absolute joy to watch these days. He is playing proper cricketing shots effortlessly. We have to remember he is aged 40, so could decline at any stage. But whilst he is playing like this he should stay in the team. He is probably the 2nd best LO batter in Pakistan, and if Pakistan have any chance at the World T20 we will need Hafeez to fire because our middle order is not great regards of who we try.
 
Put aside his resurgence recently but he has always been underrated. I have said this before, if Pakistan players were in the IPL, he would be the first pick (if his bowling is allowed) ahead of Amir,Babar or anyone else.
 
Mohammad Hafeez - Today

First 10 balls - 12 runs
Next 10 balls - 29 runs
Last 13 balls - 32 runs

Hafeez played only 6% false shots today. Control & acceleration - of all 70+ scores in the PSL - this was the third most secure & seventh quickest knock.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Mohammad Hafeez - Today

First 10 balls - 12 runs
Next 10 balls - 29 runs
Last 13 balls - 32 runs

Hafeez played only 6% false shots today. Control & acceleration - of all 70+ scores in the PSL - this was the third most secure & seventh quickest knock.
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From the little action I caught,Seems like a flat pitch too but that’s ok, those are the kind of pitches you will get in WT20 in India. Guys like Gayle, Hafeez still have some stuff left because they have figured out the perfect % cricket on whom they can target. This is why these oldies are still lighting it up.
 
Thunderbolt14 said:
Hafeez played domestic cricket for KPK. Also I suppose T20Is against England and New Zealand also count as substandard?
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Both NZ and Eng did not put out their full strength teams in any of those T20 games.... so yes it was substandard.
 
Azrim_91 said:
Both NZ and Eng did not put out their full strength teams in any of those T20 games.... so yes it was substandard.
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Some people and their agendas, he mighty still fail in world cups but atleast enjoy what he has achieved. Humans can improve actually if they try really hard, something you should also try while admiring hard workers.
 
Right now Hafeez without a doubt is Pakistan best T-20 player. He is one of 4 players who walks into the starting 11 for the T-20 WC, along with Rizwan, Shaheen, and Babar.
 
Never really rated Hafeez highly as he was too inconsistent. But he has now turned me in his fan . Never seen a Pak top order batsman hit sixes with such ease. But I am still not completely sold. Lets see how he performs in wc. Should have a cracker of a wc as its in India.
One thing people are overlooking is that Hafeez always had the natural ability to hit sixes. He has just honed it
 
Hafeez and Malik are like Shreyas Iyer. Good in smashing spinners but struggled against quality pace bowling especially short pitch stuffs.
 
He is definitely better , free flowing and entertaining batsman than Babar Azam in T20s .
 
It just goes to show how much cricket has changed in the modern era - the fact that batsmen who are neither recognised as world class test or ODI batsmen, have a batting average under 35 even in first class cricket career , can still go and become arguably the best ever batsman for their country in Pyjama cricket (also known as T20).
 
Ab Fan said:
Hafeez and Malik are like Shreyas Iyer. Good in smashing spinners but struggled against quality pace bowling especially short pitch stuffs.
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There is no comparison between the two.
Hafeez struggles in the corridor, not against the short ball.

Even at 40, he is hitting some ridiculous pull shots to 140 kph plus bowlers.

Malik on the other hand has alwsys been a complete bunny against quick short pitched bowling.
 
Last edited:
Ab Fan said:
Hafeez and Malik are like Shreyas Iyer. Good in smashing spinners but struggled against quality pace bowling especially short pitch stuffs.
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Malik and Hafeez are not the same. Malik struggles against pace, Hafeez doesnt.
 
Hafeez is am amazing batsman! He actually showcases what hard work can achieve. He can easily play till 43/44 for Pakistan.
 
Prof Hafeez in the thick of things for Lahore Qalandars - lot expected of him in this game vs Multan
 
Hafeez off to a bright start once again. 29 from 18 so far.

amir1.jpg
 
Can someone explain whether playing golf could be a reason for the improved batting of Hafeez?

His performances are insane and it has coincided with him developing an interest for golf.
 
Madplayer said:
Can someone explain whether playing golf could be a reason for the improved batting of Hafeez?

His performances are insane and it has coincided with him developing an interest for golf.
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Almost all the players play golf. Nothing to do with that.

It's just cheesy correlation.

He always was a top notch timer and stroke player.

Just applying it fearlessly now and not as an opener, where the ball moves so he gets out early.
 
Hafeez brings up his 50 at 200 strike rate. This guy is absolutely unstoppable
 
One of the best LOI batsmen right now. He has become world class at the age of 40. If only he could have had this resurgence 5,6 years ago.
He is the Pakistani Rohit. Great LOI game sense and beautiful to watch.
 
Hawkeye said:
Almost all the players play golf. Nothing to do with that.

It's just cheesy correlation.

He always was a top notch timer and stroke player.

Just applying it fearlessly now and not as an opener, where the ball moves so he gets out early.
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The commentators were mentioning it as well.
 
Hawkeye said:
Almost all the players play golf. Nothing to do with that.

It's just cheesy correlation.

He always was a top notch timer and stroke player.

Just applying it fearlessly now and not as an opener, where the ball moves so he gets out early.
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Hafeez's problems were always mental. He lacked self belief and conviction. Ability-wise he was always special. In the last 2 years he has grown mentally and that is reflecting in his game.
 
60 from 35 from him today.

Hafeez's first dismissal of PSL 6 is being run out by Samit Patel :facepalm
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fakhar Zaman "Mohammad Hafeez will help any junior cricketer as he feels that this is his duty. The bat with which I have made runs here was given to me by Hafeez. He supports junior players a lot and one cannot praise him enough for that" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1380183108348182528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Firebat said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Fakhar Zaman "Mohammad Hafeez will help any junior cricketer as he feels that this is his duty. The bat with which I have made runs here was given to me by Hafeez. He supports junior players a lot and one cannot praise him enough for that" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1380183108348182528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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King Hafeez, one of the best!
 
Mohammad Hafeez will become the second Pakistan player and sixth overall to feature in 100 T20Is when he takes the field against South Africa in first of the four men’s Twenty20 Internationals at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Hafeez, 40, is one shy of reaching the three-figure mark and all set to join the exclusive club of Shoaib Malik (116), Rohit Sharma (111), Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan and Ross Taylor (102) who have appeared in 100 or more T20Is since the inception of the shortest format of the game in February 2005.

Hafeez featured in Pakistan’s first-ever T20I in August 2006 in Bristol and scored 46 in Pakistan’s five wickets victory over England. Interestingly, Hafeez’s 50th appearance was also at the Wanderers Stadium against South Africa in November 2013 when he as captain took two for 25 and scored 13 not out as the hosts beat Pakistan by four runs in a rain-shortened match.

While Hafeez will be aiming to join Shoaib in the list of players to have played in 100 or more T20Is, he will also be looking to score, at least, 13 runs that will help him leapfrog Shoaib as Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in T20Is.

Shoaib has to date scored 2,335 runs in 116 T20Is, while Hafeez is sixth on the list with 2,323 runs in 99 matches.

Hafeez has represented Pakistan in five of the six ICC T20 World Cups since 2007, but missed the 2009 campaign in England, which Pakistan won under Younis Khan at Lord’s.
 
Younis Khan on Hafeez's pour tour of SA:

"If we talk about Mohammad Hafeez, we see that when your top order is performing so well, then your lower order doesnt get so much of a chance to bat so when they are exposed to a crunch situation, we dont see the sort of form we expect from them"
 
gazza619 said:
Saw the glimpse of old Hafeez in the 4th T20, crumbling under pressure.
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That’s the real Hafeez - in crunch situations as a batsman he’s failed in approximately 99 out of every 100 innings that he’s played across all formats of the game, and in the 1 inning out of 100 where he might have done something useful it would seem to be more due to the law of probability then anything else.
 
I keep going on like a broken record but there is a reason why Hafeez averages 20 after 5 t20 world cups with 1 50 and a SR of 105. Ifs because he goes missing when their is pressure. Yet people still want to afford him the luxury of another World Cup . Embarrassing
 
Maybe bring him back as opener , Hafeez and Babar would be an awesome pair - world class batsmen at both ends.
 
People saying he should retire when he’s been our best player in the past 2 years. These people just DONT LEARN. WE DO NOT HAVE A PLAYER THAT CAN REPLACE HAFEEZ!!! HOW HARD IS TO UNDERSTAND?

You can name players like Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique etc but they’re no better than Hafeez.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
People saying he should retire when he’s been our best player in the past 2 years. These people just DONT LEARN. WE DO NOT HAVE A PLAYER THAT CAN REPLACE HAFEEZ!!! HOW HARD IS TO UNDERSTAND?

You can name players like Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique etc but they’re no better than Hafeez.
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Yes agree we need a batsman who can win matches when the pressure is on and perform consistently against the best bowling attacks -
And Hafeez has been doing that for years as we all know.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
People saying he should retire when he’s been our best player in the past 2 years. These people just DONT LEARN. WE DO NOT HAVE A PLAYER THAT CAN REPLACE HAFEEZ!!! HOW HARD IS TO UNDERSTAND?

You can name players like Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique etc but they’re no better than Hafeez.
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That's sums up the whole "Pakistan main talent boht ha' dram if we can't find 2 good middle order batsmen from 20 cror population
 
His form is concerning. This is what I feared would happen. He secures his place in the team and then he flops in the World T20. I hope he regains his form for Pakistan’s sake.
 
Over the hill chacha jee. Someone get this old man a coaching gig with the calendars so he can quit being a failure at the international level.
 
YousafTheBeast said:
People saying he should retire when he’s been our best player in the past 2 years. These people just DONT LEARN. WE DO NOT HAVE A PLAYER THAT CAN REPLACE HAFEEZ!!! HOW HARD IS TO UNDERSTAND?

You can name players like Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique etc but they’re no better than Hafeez.
Click to expand...

Saud shakeel is suited to tests and odis why would you bring his name up in t20s ?
 
The Viper said:
His form is concerning. This is what I feared would happen. He secures his place in the team and then he flops in the World T20. I hope he regains his form for Pakistan’s sake.
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This is classic Hafeez and we see this time and time again which is why he's a mainstay in all worldcup squads so far since 2007
 
His purple patch is over but both him and Malik will be good enough for us even 10 years from now, such is the lack of talent in Pakistan.

We can hype these young batsmen all we want, but they are still inferior to these 40 year olds.

The lack of talent in Pakistan is exposed in PSL every year, and PSL’s bowling is rubbish no matter how much we lie to ourselves that the standard of bowling is great.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohammad Hafeez's batting form a concern for Pakistan. Last 9 innings:<br><br>10 <br>11 <br>6<br>1<br>10<br>24<br>5<br>5<br>10<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/T20WorldCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#T20WorldCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvAFG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvAFG</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1454133410205667330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Babar Azam and Rizwan are currently best T20I batsmen..
Hafeez may be their 2nd best batsman alongwith Haider Ali..
Malik 3rd
 
Firebat said:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mohammad Hafeez's batting form a concern for Pakistan. Last 9 innings:<br><br>10 <br>11 <br>6<br>1<br>10<br>24<br>5<br>5<br>10<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/T20WorldCup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#T20WorldCup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PAKvAFG?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PAKvAFG</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SajSadiqCricket/status/1454133410205667330?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Don’t worry , Namibia and Scotland are the next two games and I fully back Hafeez to come up with breathtaking batting performances that will silence all critics for the next year at least.
 
We have seen this for more than a decade. If you wanted a team and pitch for Hafeez,it would be this and he looked scared. Lets hope it's a blip and in the next WC he has learnt to handle pressure. If not that one, certainly the one after
 
Has been poor since the New Zealand tour but if he can get one decent score he could replicate his form from last year.

With everyone playing at the top of their games, an inform Hafeez could be the icing on the cake
 
He looks very weak. Almost ill. No power in the strokes. I wonder if he has fully recovered from dengue weakness.
 
Hafeez is playing because he can give you those 2 overs in the middle. With bat he has been disappointing, only good thing is he doesn’t consume many balls before he gets out
 
Both him and Hasan Ali should be dropped for one or two games, with the group basically secured for Pakistan. There's no reason to persist with them in lower stakes games when they haven't been important to wins. Wasim Jr and Sarfraz could possibly come in, it would just be nice to see some experimentation.
 
WC-Passion said:
Both him and Hasan Ali should be dropped for one or two games, with the group basically secured for Pakistan. There's no reason to persist with them in lower stakes games when they haven't been important to wins. Wasim Jr and Sarfraz could possibly come in, it would just be nice to see some experimentation.
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Haider Ali and M Wasim can be picked

Maybe Nawaz for Hafeez and M Wasim for Hassan
 
We heard malik and hafeez are there for experience.

Both are the biggest losers in Pak cricket since the last 20 years.
 
He has not been scoring at any stage for long time now , what else will it take to drop a 45 year old out of form batsman ?? He will cost us semi final, him and Hasan .
 
Rana said:
Haider Ali and M Wasim can be picked

Maybe Nawaz for Hafeez and M Wasim for Hassan
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Yeah that would work. I just don't want the typical Pakistani selector nonsense of persisting with the same players over and over just because they aren't forced to change anything.
 
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