M. Hafeez's obsession with opening the batting has cost him a potentially great limited overs career

[ethan hunt]

The dude should always have been a middle order bat / finisher / allrounder.
His game was always suited to that role.
He could have been a beastly middle order striker in limited overs.
Alas. What a waste of a career.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Hafeez when he 1st came into side had to open. Pakistan had middle order players like inzi/moyo and to a lesser extent shoaib malik and younis khan.

Add to that kamran akmal, razzaq and afridi as the power hitters down the order so hafeez would have never even have got a look into pakistan team as a middle order player.

So all this talk about hafeezs career being wasted coz he didnt bat middle order is laughable to say the least.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

The dude should always have been a middle order bat / finisher / allrounder.
His game was always suited to that role.
He could have been a beastly middle order striker in limited overs.
Alas. What a waste of a career.

Fact of the matter is, he is very ordinary batsman in the international arena no matter what position you play him.
PCB picked the wrong player to begin with, which is forgivable, but then the amount of investment made into him didn't pay the dividends.


And due to this investment, he has a unique record for such an ordinary international level cricketers.

He remains the only player who has opened batting and bowling in the same match all three formats of the game.

 

[Usman]

Hafeez when he 1st came into side had to open. Pakistan had middle order players like inzi/moyo and to a lesser extent shoaib malik and younis khan.

Add to that kamran akmal, razzaq and afridi as the power hitters down the order so hafeez would have never even have got a look into pakistan team as a middle order player.

So all this talk about hafeezs career being wasted coz he didnt bat middle order is laughable to say the least.

Agree with this.

More than that though, I don't think his batting position makes that much difference. He has always been a player who looks like a million dollars for a period of time, whilst also looking totally woeful at other times. Whilst it's true that you can hide a little when you bat down the order, during a Hafeez woeful patch, even the number 11 spot would not hide him enough.

As I said in another thread, let's hope this latest purple patch lasts until the end of the t20 World Cup next year.

 

[ethan hunt]

I dont rate him either. Think he overcomplicates things and had a shoddy technique but dont think he played at the right number if he was to play at all. Would like to see a stats comparison for his figures both as an opener and a finisher.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Well this is what the think tank is for. The management team along with the captain should realise the potential of a player and should make full use of it. Unfortunately it is not the forte of Pakistan.

For example to take the Indian team, Rohit success was when dhoni made him the opener. Similarly for Raina when pushed down to no.5 from no,3 where Dhoni needed a leftie to company him to finish games made remarkable turn arounds. Also dhoni didn’t do that until he had Kohli to cover. no.3

After sehwag and Gambhir he made Rohit and Dhawan until then they were not the openers at any point of time.


Hafeez if batted 5 in tests and no.4 in ODIs would have achieved more than what he has now. He has weakness to play the moving ball even at 125kph, that shouldn’t be weakness for an opener. If the ball is not swinging then he is a beast.

 

[RickyG]

He shouldn't have opened perhaps but more than that he didn't realize and capitalize on his strengths. He was too insecure and was constantly trying to cover up his weaknesses. He would've been a very good ODI batting all-rounder if he had figured how to bat freely like he is now.

He might have maybe become a test batting all-rounder as well but not as an opener. Batting at 6 he probably would've been better than our other number 6 options.

That being said, he is good to watch now.

 

[NauV]

Hafeez when he 1st came into side had to open. Pakistan had middle order players like inzi/moyo and to a lesser extent shoaib malik and younis khan.

Add to that kamran akmal, razzaq and afridi as the power hitters down the order so hafeez would have never even have got a look into pakistan team as a middle order player.

So all this talk about hafeezs career being wasted coz he didnt bat middle order is laughable to say the least.

I actually disagree with that assessment! What you're saying is 100% true for the early part of Hafeez's career, however not true for the last 8 9 years when Hafeez has played majority of his career. Not just that, he has actually been quite a powerful personality (and has remained captain) . . It was/is his utter obstinacy that he refused to come down the order when his technique was never equipped to handle new ball bowling! HIs play against spin is a work of art . . his ability to hence maneuver (in fact dominate) middle overs were always going to be his strong point . . and his attacking ability is also better thaan MANY MANY others that we have tried in those positions in the last 8 or so years . . On the contrary, his ability to play swing bowling (or well any bowling that does anything in the air or off the track) isn't his strength . . and he got found out again and again and again!

IN fact, what I would deem as his most influential ODI innings in Pakistan colors also came down the order against India in the CT final . .

It's conjecturing obviously, but I agree with the OP . . Not sure about legend, but Hafeez would have been a much greater cricketer (with a lot more impact) had he agreed to come at 5/6 through the last 7 8 years . .

 

[NauV]

This is symptomatic of Pakistan cricket in general btw . . I have always maintained, its one thing not having enough talent . . but its another not using the talent in the right manner . . the former you dont control, the latter you do . .

We have seen inferior teams on talent do better than pakistan and aagainst Pakistan time and again because they know how to use resources better . . they know how to strategize better .. how to lead better . . Hafeez is definitely not hte only person who has not realized where his strengths lie and where he could have added most value to Pakistan . . and we continue to do this. . use players in wrong formats then kick them out . . use players in wrong positions . . throw in bowlers in wrong conditions . . and I can go on!

 

[Amjid Javed]

Well this is what the think tank is for. The management team along with the captain should realise the potential of a player and should make full use of it. Unfortunately it is not the forte of Pakistan.

For example to take the Indian team, Rohit success was when dhoni made him the opener. Similarly for Raina when pushed down to no.5 from no,3 where Dhoni needed a leftie to company him to finish games made remarkable turn arounds. Also dhoni didn’t do that until he had Kohli to cover. no.3

After sehwag and Gambhir he made Rohit and Dhawan until then they were not the openers at any point of time.


Hafeez if batted 5 in tests and no.4 in ODIs would have achieved more than what he has now. He has weakness to play the moving ball even at 125kph, that shouldn’t be weakness for an opener. If the ball is not swinging then he is a beast.

So your telling me that hafeez at 5 in tests would have been better than the options pakistan has used in test cricket in that position between 2003 and 2018 )

If you think think hafeez was going to get into test side ahead of inzi/moyo/younis/misbah etc.. then you clearly need a reality check.

 

[JibranAnsari]

i think Babar should open in ODIs , his game is natural for an opener. He and imam can build big opening partnerships.

 

[Amjid Javed]

He shouldn't have opened perhaps but more than that he didn't realize and capitalize on his strengths. He was too insecure and was constantly trying to cover up his weaknesses. He would've been a very good ODI batting all-rounder if he had figured how to bat freely like he is now.

He might have maybe become a test batting all-rounder as well but not as an opener. Batting at 6 he probably would've been better than our other number 6 options.

That being said, he is good to watch now.

Pakistan had players like razzaq and afridi at 6 who were always seen as main all rounders in test side and at time were better players then razzaq.

Hafeez at 6 vs shafiq at 6 might be interesting. However hafeezs weakness against new ball could have still been exposed at number 6, players at 6 or 7 would alot of time would have to face the 2nd new ball in test cricket.

People are making out as though hafeez would have been better than gary sobers if he had played in middle order )

 

[Rana]

Hafeez when he 1st came into side had to open. Pakistan had middle order players like inzi/moyo and to a lesser extent shoaib malik and younis khan.

Add to that kamran akmal, razzaq and afridi as the power hitters down the order so hafeez would have never even have got a look into pakistan team as a middle order player.

So all this talk about hafeezs career being wasted coz he didnt bat middle order is laughable to say the least.

This.

Pakistan were feeding openers to new bowlers for the sake of it back then so that Inzi, Moyo and YK didn’t have to face the new ball from the beginning. Hafeez, Kamran and Malik were being rotated as openers and lower order players all the time

 

[Rana]

So your telling me that hafeez at 5 in tests would have been better than the options pakistan has used in test cricket in that position between 2003 and 2018 )

If you think think hafeez was going to get into test side ahead of inzi/moyo/younis/misbah etc.. then you clearly need a reality check.

Even Misbah had no chance in that middle order until Inzimam retired.

That 3,4,5 of YK, Moyo and Inzi was the strongest ever middle order in the history of Pakistan.

 

[Zaz]

This is symptomatic of Pakistan cricket in general btw . . I have always maintained, its one thing not having enough talent . . but its another not using the talent in the right manner . . the former you dont control, the latter you do . .

We have seen inferior teams on talent do better than pakistan and aagainst Pakistan time and again because they know how to use resources better . . they know how to strategize better .. how to lead better . . Hafeez is definitely not hte only person who has not realized where his strengths lie and where he could have added most value to Pakistan . . and we continue to do this. . use players in wrong formats then kick them out . . use players in wrong positions . . throw in bowlers in wrong conditions . . and I can go on!

Its always been an issue using players wrongly or in the wrong positions The strategy of pakistan mind boggles

Like when our best players inzy and yousuf slid further and further n further down the order at 4-5 hiding away from the new ball in odis

Most of the best teams in that period had their best players in the top 3 sachin sehwag ganguly, gilchrist ponting hayden etc who could score big hundreds n win the games upfront

N we had players like hafeez razzaq malik farhat afridi n co taking the shine off the ball for the middle order

 

[moghul]

He is a good player at flat wickets and against mediocre bowling in domestic and international games but very ordinary player when ball moves a bit or if he is facing some decent bowlers at international level.

Credit goes to him, even then he is able to stay around for so long, he fails against quality bowling miserably but compensates it well with almost always good showing against lower class bowling.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Not really. He loved opening the batting and opened in the domestic cricket as well. He never had a FC or LA average in 40s to begin with. His LA avg was around 30s and about 35 in FC. He resisted being shifted down the order in 2012 as well.

Hafeez has had an unusual and funny career(from an onlooker's point of view).

By the time he was picked for Champions Trophy 06, he had international stats of average of 18 and strike rate of 58. In tests, he had just scored a 95 on a swinging wicket at the Oval in his only test he played in that series. This phase lasted till late 2007. In Tests, he was still considered a very slow opener and had just started to become an aggressive opener around that time. By the time he was dropped, his ODI average was 20 and SR of 60.

He showed some real good form especially in faysal bank t20 cups we frequently used to have, scored a 100 as well which was a rarity in Pak domestic back then and was picked for wt20 2010 and mainly batted in the middle order at no.3, no.4. He failed miserably there and was dropped.
He was not in contention for selection but after the spot fixing scandal, he was picked by Mohsin Khan led panel for a "last shot" in international career. Out of all places in England with one ball and batting powerplay (back when there was an obvious competition between bat and ball), he played very well and bought himself another few series. Finally broke free and scored his first ODI hundred 7 years after debuting while opening in the 3rd ODI against NZ in NZ. Afterwards remained a proper fixture in all formats for next few years.
By that time, it was believed that if shuffled down to middle order, he can't adjust well there. He resisted batting at no.3 or no.4 and opened with Imran Nazir in wt20 2012 ahead of Nasir Jamshed and Kamran Akmal. After the exit in the semis, he was finally pushed no.3 upon insisitence of Whatmore.
He shifted to no.3 as well in 2013 with mixed results.

Afterwards he was either opening or batting at no.3 in LOIs and opening in Tests. He became Steyn's bunny in 2013 and then was when his weakness against swing became well known.

He mainly batted at no.3 even with the emergence of Babar Azam who started his career at no.5 or no.6.
Babar was only given the no.3 position in the WI series in UAE where he scored 3 consecutive 100s.
Meanwhile he was dropped from the Test side during the 2016 series in England. He only batted at no.3 in Tests in 2 matches against SL in 2013-14 drawn series and was dropped for the famous maghrib chase match in favor of Azhar Ali.

The calls of promotion of switching of places between him and Babar had started to get louder and was promptly done after Pakistan lost an ODI to WI before CT17. He remained below no.3 afterwards.

He made a comeback in Tests in 2018 against Aus and scored a 100 before his form waning off and retired from tests. He retired with a Test average nearing 40 meanwhile his average and SR kept increasing to 32/76.

 

[Aami]

Im not a big fan of Hafeez ...never have been.

But, hats off to the guy, he is still going strong at the age of 40...and going by Pak standards, he's probably 42 at least!

 

[FreePalestine]

Definitely agree with OP. If not a ‘great’ cricketer, then at least, the best cricketer he could have been, which was a pretty good one.

 

[MMHS]

I don't think so. He is in his for of life - open him now, he'll score big there as well. Hafeez as opener has earned lot more than what he should have - he stands with 10 Test hundreds, all as opener and 11 ODI hundreds, all batting in top 3.

Hafeez is one of the very few beneficiaries of 3/9 incident - it took cricket out of PAK, burnt sand of UAE became PAK's home and guy roosted as ODI batsman there all through batting in top 3 and there are quite few soft runs as well. Had he batted at 4/5/6, I am sure his stats would have suffered more. Remember, for his first 52 games, till SEP 2010, he had a career stats of <20/<60 (average/SR). Posters recall his CT Final innings too much, but even then batting at 4 & down, in 40 games his career stats are 31/83.

He is playing well now and PAK should hope that long may it continue, but I believe Hafeez has over achieved in his career, changing path won't have brought him better returns.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Hafeez down the order (5 or 6) could have been a real asset for Pakistan. But in this regard I blame the management too. A quick search on Statsguru would have reveled to them how dismal Hafeez is and has always been as an opener. But they stuck with him at that spot for years.

Credit to Hafeez though he has improved leaps and bounds as a batsman in the last two years. Its a shame this improvement came towards the tail-end of his career.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Hafeez down the order (5 or 6) could have been a real asset for Pakistan. But in this regard I blame the management too. A quick search on Statsguru would have reveled to them how dismal Hafeez is and has always been as an opener. But they stuck with him at that spot for years.

Credit to Hafeez though he has improved leaps and bounds as a batsman in the last two years. Its a shame this improvement came towards the tail-end of his career.

Who exactly should hafeez have been playing ahead of in these postions? )

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I don't think so. He is in his for of life - open him now, he'll score big there as well. Hafeez as opener has earned lot more than what he should have - he stands with 10 Test hundreds, all as opener and 11 ODI hundreds, all batting in top 3.

Hafeez is one of the very few beneficiaries of 3/9 incident - it took cricket out of PAK, burnt sand of UAE became PAK's home and guy roosted as ODI batsman there all through batting in top 3 and there are quite few soft runs as well. Had he batted at 4/5/6, I am sure his stats would have suffered more. Remember, for his first 52 games, till SEP 2010, he had a career stats of <20/<60 (average/SR). Posters recall his CT Final innings too much, but even then batting at 4 & down, in 40 games his career stats are 31/83.

He is playing well now and PAK should hope that long may it continue, but I believe Hafeez has over achieved in his career, changing path won't have brought him better returns.

The number of games he has played at 4 and down are less than the number of games he has played at just number 3. And even if you were to accept that his SR gets better the more he moves down the order till number 5.

Hafeez as opener though is an ugly picture. Average of 29.7, SR of 73.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Who exactly should hafeez have been playing ahead of in these postions? )

Depends on which time period you are talking about.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Depends on which time period you are talking about.

Enlighten me on any time period in the last 17 years. Im sure the whole world is dissapointed that hafeez hasnt taken gart sobers crown as worlds greatest ever all rounder.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Im not a big fan of Hafeez ...never have been.

But, hats off to the guy, he is still going strong at the age of 40...and going by Pak standards, he's probably 42 at least!

By the amount of chances, investment and support he has received from PCB over the 17 odd years, even a blind man would’ve evolved into an as good of a player as Hafeez looks in these domestic games.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Enlighten me on any time period in the last 17 years. Im sure the whole world is dissapointed that hafeez hasnt taken gart sobers crown as worlds greatest ever all rounder.

Firstly, it has to be said that Hafeez was never world-class level batsman at any point during his career other than perhaps maybe now. He had too issues rotating the strike, and he was not someone who you could rely on to regularly play a big innings. Some of his biggest scores have come either against Sri Lanka in UAE or a minnow side like Zimbabwe. But he always had the shots, he could always play spin well which is exactly why he would have been better suited down the order for the middle to death overs.

You can scoff all you like but the numbers speak for themself. Hafeez's numbers as opener are abject: average of 29.7, with a SR of 73. His average is significantly better in the middle order and his SR gets better the lower he goes from numbers 1-5. At No. 3; average: 41, SR 82, No. 4; average: 30.9, SR 84, No. 5; average: 72, SR: 105.

Besides its not like Umar Akmal, Misbah or whichever forgettable face they slotted in at 5 should have been batting there. Misbah should never have batted lower than 3 because of the anchor role he had in the side, while Umar Akmal at his best was a number 3 batsman, at his worst was a number 7 batsman.

 

[Kroll]

Kudos to Hafeez for going all out beast mode.

Nonetheless, I doubt there would have been much difference as Hafeez 1.0 and Hafeez 2.0 are proven mental midgets and average players.

It remains to be seen if Hafeez 3.0 can turn it on the big stage come next autumn.

 

[RickyG]

Pakistan had players like razzaq and afridi at 6 who were always seen as main all rounders in test side and at time were better players then razzaq.

Hafeez at 6 vs shafiq at 6 might be interesting. However hafeezs weakness against new ball could have still been exposed at number 6, players at 6 or 7 would alot of time would have to face the 2nd new ball in test cricket.

People are making out as though hafeez would have been better than gary sobers if he had played in middle order )

I don’t think Razzaq was a better batsman than Hafeez at all. He couldn’t rotate the strike and was quite poor against spinners. Second new ball isn’t the same as the first new ball though.

Hafeez’s best years were after Afridis and Razzaq in any case.

I don’t think anyone’s making him out to be Sobers. I just think some of think he had greater potential than what he achieved and how people perceive him. His weaknesses are obvious as are his strengths. Also this is a guy who averaged close to 40 as an opener in test cricket.

 

[GreenKhan]

Credit to Hafeez for his resurgence , but unfortunately he is generally a mentally timid player and no matter where he would have batted his stats won’t have been that different .

8 world cups ( t20 and 50 overs combined ) with an average of 24 and only 3 50s are extremely poor numbers .

Even Hafeez 3.0 who batted at number 4 in the 2019 World Cup only managed an average of 32 and generally went missing as the tournament progressed.

 

[Nasty Naz]

Hafeez when he 1st came into side had to open. Pakistan had middle order players like inzi/moyo and to a lesser extent shoaib malik and younis khan.

Add to that kamran akmal, razzaq and afridi as the power hitters down the order so hafeez would have never even have got a look into pakistan team as a middle order player.

So all this talk about hafeezs career being wasted coz he didnt bat middle order is laughable to say the least.

This is very true for his early part of his career and that is also why his numbers are beyond horrible in ODI's until after 2010 (had a good start to his Test career though).

It could have changed post 2010 but then again, it's so hard to judge at the time considering his strike rate was incredibly poor. Frankly, with how bad his numbers were and that he was 7 years into his career and his International numbers were so poor, it's a miracle he was even able to make a comeback at that time.

I think Younis batting in that middle order (ODI's) for so long probably did a disservice to the careers of Malik and Hafeez who often had to bat in spots they shouldn't have due to him.

 

[Mamoon]

It is not the position but the approach. Hafeez has a woeful defensive technique, but he almost always looks good when he looks to play aggressively.

People may not remember it but he once smashed Steyn in an ODI in the UAE in 2010, and that was the last time he took on him before becoming his bunny.

Nevertheless, Hafeez post 2010 has always been good enough as a batsman to get into the pathetic Pakistan team.

The notion that Hafeez doesn’t make the team purely on batting merit has been one of the most laughable myths associated with Pakistan cricket in the last decade.

Even in Tests, he has averaged 50+ in Asian wickets post 2010. Guess where does Pakistan play most of its Test matches?

 

[shamaan]

Batting down the order has freed him up and allowed him to use his power his mindset has changed

 

[Saj]

The problem was his technique.

Agree that he should have been utilised more in the numbers 3 to 5 position.

 

[MenInG]

Looking good so far in the 2nd Eliminator

 

[RyanRyan10]

His best performance came at no.3. Average of 41 and SR of 82 with most innings in early 2010s is good.

Hafeez was the best Pakistan odi batsman in early 2010s. Only he and Umar Akmal were the two Pak batsmen capable of playing with a 100+ SR in a kinefull of tuktuks.

His overall numbers don't look that impressive because of his initial few years where he averaged under 20 and had a SR of less than 60. But his numbers kept getting better with time.

Overall, Hafeez has a good career for Pakistan in limited formats. Hafeez 1.0 was an awful Cricketer. Hafeez 2.0 was a world class Allrounder and Hafeez 3.0 is turning out to be Viv Richard's of T20 Cricket

 

[topspin]

So your telling me that hafeez at 5 in tests would have been better than the options pakistan has used in test cricket in that position between 2003 and 2018 )

If you think think hafeez was going to get into test side ahead of inzi/moyo/younis/misbah etc.. then you clearly need a reality check.

Hafeez over Misbah any day.

 

[GreenKhan]

Hafeez played an innings today which he has played a number of times in t20 world cups . 19 of 20 balls and could have been out twice before .

There’s a reason why he averages 20 after 5 t20 world cups.

Expect more of the same in the next World Cup to .

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Hafeez played an innings today which he has played a number of times in t20 world cups . 19 of 20 balls and could have been out twice before .

There’s a reason why he averages 20 after 5 t20 world cups.

Expect more of the same in the next World Cup to .

And yet, he seems to have an entire fan club here.

Perhaps by modern day Pakistani batting standards, he IS a hero?

 

[GreenKhan]

And yet, he seems to have an entire fan club here.

Perhaps by modern day Pakistani batting standards, he IS a hero?

One thing I have repeatedly seen over the years from Hafeez is that he has gone missing when needed especially in world cups . It’s no secret he averages 20 over 5 t20 World Cup . Why give him another World Cup .

He looked very nervous and edgy in the qualifier yesterday, and it just reminded me of the typical Hafeez from T20 world cups . He’s there for his experience. But his performances in T20 world cups are so poor that his experience does not mean much .

As for his fan club , everyone has their favourite players , but team Pakistan should first . I am a Fakhar zaman fan , but am realistic enough to admit that if the T20 World Cup was the next tournament being played he does not merit a place In the team .

 

[ask_analyse_act]

So your telling me that hafeez at 5 in tests would have been better than the options pakistan has used in test cricket in that position between 2003 and 2018 )

If you think think hafeez was going to get into test side ahead of inzi/moyo/younis/misbah etc.. then you clearly need a reality check.

Where did I say it was from 2003 to 2018. Hafeez had a cricket life only after 2010 spot fixing. Took the spot of Butt.

I’m saying from 2010 to 2018. Before 2010 he might have played 10 games in total and I don’t rmb any away tests that he played except the famous Inzi refusing to play against England at Oval and England was awarded the match.

U need a reality check too
When Pak had Inzi/Moyo/Younis even Misbah was not even considered to play tests.

 

[Mercurial]

A player is as good as his domestic stats. I don't think batting positions would have made any difference.

 

[Snowflake]

Totally agree! Hafeez never had the mental toughness to be a successful opener. He should have moved down the order much earlier in his career which should have allowed him to play freely and aggressively; which he can do quite well.

But as OP said, his ego came in the way and kind of serves him right that his career would end up as quite ordinary.

 

[Amjid Javed]

One thing pakistan has had most of time in last 17 years is good quality middle order batsmen, so why would they have even wanted to consider hafeez to pick over better players. Just because hafeez is now having a few decent patches of form and now PCB and team management are to blame for wasting his career. Pure comedy gold some of these comments.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Where did I say it was from 2003 to 2018. Hafeez had a cricket life only after 2010 spot fixing. Took the spot of Butt.

I’m saying from 2010 to 2018. Before 2010 he might have played 10 games in total and I don’t rmb any away tests that he played except the famous Inzi refusing to play against England at Oval and England was awarded the match.

U need a reality check too
When Pak had Inzi/Moyo/Younis even Misbah was not even considered to play tests.

2010 after the No ball scandal

Pakistans batting 3-6 was Azhar, Misbah, younis, umar akmal who was then replaced by Asad Shafiq.

So again at that time why would hafeez even get a look in? Who would he have replaced?

Yes shafiq has been a let down overall but i doubt very much hafeez would have got a look in at all in middle order.

Why would hafeez a struggling opener with a mediocre test record back in 2010 have been picked to replace a genuine middle order batsmen?

 

[Amjid Javed]

The problem was his technique.

Agree that he should have been utilised more in the numbers 3 to 5 position.

Who would he have played ahead of in these positions. Seem alot of fans have this facination with players where there technic isnt good enough to play numbers 1-3 so we should play them down the order and they would become world beaters.

 

[Usman]

Who would he have played ahead of in these positions. Seem alot of fans have this facination with players where there technic isnt good enough to play numbers 1-3 so we should play them down the order and they would become world beaters.

Until Barbar and Harris came along, the numbers 3-6 have all been up for grabs. So now is the first time since Inzi and MoYo that we have 2 certain picks in the middle order.

That said, I agree with you that Hafeez wasn't going to set the world alight had he batted in these positions. The fact is that Hafeez looks quality when on-song but for most of his career, he's been an unreliable batsman. It's got little to do with his batting position and a lot to do with his often dodgy technique.

Take the World Cup 2011. He was given the all important number 4 spot and criminally kept Harris out of the XI for a period as a result. It was only when Harris came back into the team that our fortunes changed. Had Harris been there to begin with instead of Hafeez, we may well have won that one extra game that would have got us to the semis.

The point is that Hafeez was give than number 4 spot for the most important competition in cricket and he flopped. Fans therefore thinking that Hafeez would have been the second coming of Bradman in the middle order are deluding themselves.

 

[Rana]

Until Barbar and Harris came along, the numbers 3-6 have all been up for grabs. So now is the first time since Inzi and MoYo that we have 2 certain picks in the middle order.

That said, I agree with you that Hafeez wasn't going to set the world alight had he batted in these positions. The fact is that Hafeez looks quality when on-song but for most of his career, he's been an unreliable batsman. It's got little to do with his batting position and a lot to do with his often dodgy technique.

Take the World Cup 2011. He was given the all important number 4 spot and criminally kept Harris out of the XI for a period as a result. It was only when Harris came back into the team that our fortunes changed. Had Harris been there to begin with instead of Hafeez, we may well have won that one extra game that would have got us to the semis.

The point is that Hafeez was give than number 4 spot for the most important competition in cricket and he flopped. Fans therefore thinking that Hafeez would have been the second coming of Bradman in the middle order are deluding themselves.

Babar and Harris made clear inroads into the ODI side in 2015 right after Younis Khan and Misbah retired from ODI cricked. Pakistan pushed on with MissYou from the 2011 wc, with Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal also in the mix until 2015. I don’t think 3-6 were as easily obtainable with Misbah and Younis still around, whilst a lot of time had been invested in Umar Akmal as well. Harris emerged in 2013 or 14 I believe, and he was at Number 5 with Sohaib Maqsood also in the frame. I think Hafeez was insisting to play as an opener and rightly so, he reinvented himself by 2010 as a proper ODI opener and was successful as one. Unlike before where as a batsman throughout he was averaging something like 22, even worse than Afridi.

A part of me thinks that Hafeez has always been one of those guys who was a mental midget around the likes of Inzimam, Yousuf, Akhtar, Afridi, Razzaq, Younis Khan in the 2005-2007 era, but he became a whole new person as soon as Inzimam and Yousuf were no longer in the side or in contention. A bit full of himself and started to behave like he is some kind of cricket expert. It was Rameez Raja who coined the term “professor” in the commentary box in the 2010 ODI series against England and he did it in a derogatory way, saying that the teammates call him the professor because he acts like a know it all, whereas his batting average of 22 doesn’t suggest he does.

 

[Cric1234]

As Majid Khan has already pointed out Hafeez is indeed a great batsman in ODIs averaging over 60 against the likes of Zimbabwe and Ireland combined while he is reduced to lesser greatness against the top 5 teams where his average drops into the 20s.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

One thing I have repeatedly seen over the years from Hafeez is that he has gone missing when needed especially in world cups . It’s no secret he averages 20 over 5 t20 World Cup . Why give him another World Cup .

Mostly, you are right. But I do think he was useful to some degree in the ODI world cup last year - including a man of the match performance against England, the eventual winners. That has to count for something?

Further, averaging 20 in T20 matches is bad, but not horrible - it means there were some 30+ scores in the mix which are useful in T20 matches.

So to say he has gone completely missing, perhaps true to some degree but also if there aren’t any other players knocking the door down for Hafeez’s position in the T20 squad, I think Hafeez deserves to play in 2021 on current form.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

There was also a valuable 57* (37) in the CT17 Final, strike rate of 155 when the two next highest strike rates were 119 (Imad, 25 runs) and 108 (Fakhar).

In other words, he had a very crucial hand in pushing our total to that 300+ and then later 330+ mark. One game before that he posted a useful 31* (21) against England in the CT17 semifinal.

So Hafeez is not completely useless in tournaments for us, that’s a few crucial performances against some of the favorites in those respective tournaments.

 

[Energy]

Hafeez managed to play a long career because our batting unit is weak. Shehzad, Shafiq, Kamran, Umar Akmal, Maqsood and a host of other mediocre players were regulars in the ODI team.

That makes Hafeez' 'statistics' look half decent. But they don't lie, a 30 avg player will always remain someone who is in the mediocre category.

 

[GreenKhan]

Mostly, you are right. But I do think he was useful to some degree in the ODI world cup last year - including a man of the match performance against England, the eventual winners. That has to count for something?

Further, averaging 20 in T20 matches is bad, but not horrible - it means there were some 30+ scores in the mix which are useful in T20 matches.

So to say he has gone completely missing, perhaps true to some degree but also if there aren’t any other players knocking the door down for Hafeez’s position in the T20 squad, I think Hafeez deserves to play in 2021 on current form.

Hafeez output in the World Cup last year was an average of 32. Which is actually his highest average in a ICC tournament. Very poor figures for someone who is the team for his experience.

As for his Icc t20 World Cup record . An average of 20 over 28 matches (5 world cups) with 1 50 and a SR of 105 is absolutely awful.

Some of his most amazing knocks in t20 world cups
When the pressure has been on are
15 of 28 balls v India
15 of 22 balls v India
19 of 32 balls v West Indies
8 of 12 balls v Bangladesh

Hafeez Champions trophy knock was amazing but 8 world cups , with only 3 50s is enough to show us that he is not needed in the next World Cup .