Mohammad Hafeez batting up the order in Tests

[Ozeirk]

I believe it's a dangerous thing to have Hafeez open for Pakistan or even play at one down considering how volatile he can be. He can get a good score once a while on slow pitches however when he gets out early he puts the whole team on the back foot. I am not against him playing in the team but he should come further down the order.

We also have to consider his lack of skill against the moving new ball which can cause real issues for the batting line up once the test series starts in South Africa.

 

[Pete Rose]

It’s a dangerous thing for hafeez to be near the dressing the year before it travels to South Africa and the UK

 

[ARK Rafay]

He barley manages to bat at no. 3 in UAE conditions. He should bat at middle order no. 5 or 6 in Tests and ODIs

Hafeez batting at no. 6 would provide that 6th bowler Pakistan needs and will also provide the stability and big shots Pakistan need in the middle order in ODIs

 

[Hasan123]

He's finished as a cricketer. Don't let his scoring in the UAE or meangliness T20s fool you. This forum can keep living in a delusional world where they think we can't survive without him. His bowling his hardly used and he struggles against pacers.

Unfortunately he will play well after the 2019 WC.

 

[Markhor]

Why is he there as an all-rounder when he hardly bowls ?

With Haris proving a handy part time spin option, I see no need for Hafeez.

Drop him, make Azhar open again and bring in Saad Ali at 6.

 

[Amjid Javed]

He should have been removed from test side along time ago, yet some PPer on here think he should be tried in every position 3-11 until he comes good as "hes suited down the order"

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

As usual you waste one position in the batting by asking Hafeez to open.

In ODI's he still could be useful batting at 6 after 30 overs taking up the finisher's role. He did a good job in the second ODI against NZ.

I would rather not have Hafeez but if he has to be there for his bowling then bat him at 6 so that he can contribute with the bat as well.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

He's finished as a cricketer. Don't let his scoring in the UAE or meangliness T20s fool you. This forum can keep living in a delusional world where they think we can't survive without him. His bowling his hardly used and he struggles against pacers.

Unfortunately he will play well after the 2019 WC.

It's how Pak cricket works. Seniors keep lurking till they finally give up and retire.

Both Malik and Hafeez will be here and there till the WC in England whether you Like it or not.

 

[Abdul Moiz]

Would need a specialist batsman in place of him in SA tests as we can't keep him there just because of his bowling.

 

[Hasan123]

It's how Pak cricket works. Seniors keep lurking till they finally give up and retire.

Both Malik and Hafeez will be here and there till the WC in England whether you Like it or not.

The only reason he is playing all 3 formats now is because he performed in the T20s against NZ. It wasn't as though he was ripping it up in first class cricket to be selected for tests. We know his record against Styen and quality fast bowling in general is rubbish. Yet he's still batting at the top of the order.

 

[Plumb]

LOLzzzz Hafeez trolling pakistan cricket continues.... He is blessed to play all formats and the best Opener Pakistan ever produced

He is a #6 given any format but No I am the best and I ll open, may be open the bottles

 

[Fahdi]

Hafeez in Tests is pointless. He's fine as a batsman in the UAE but considering that he is 38 and is a walking wicket outside Asia there's no merit in playing him. He's hardly bowled so you can't play the all-rounder card.

Fakhar should replace him by the 3rd test if Imam can hold on to his spot.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

The only reason he is playing all 3 formats now is because he performed in the T20s against NZ. It wasn't as though he was ripping it up in first class cricket to be selected for tests. We know his record against Styen and quality fast bowling in general is rubbish. Yet he's still batting at the top of the order.

Even Arthur knows and understands that, but he can not do anything about it without creating unnecessary chaos. With guys like Mohsin, Wasim there Mickey would be blamed if he kept the seniors out and lost.

After the Asia Cup every other Pakistani expert called for Hafeez's experience so Inzi also thought let's solve the issue temporarily. Now they cannot remove him till he fails in a few series otherwise the media backlash will be heavy.

 

[Ahmed216]

Hafeez's selection in test 11 has to be blamed entirely upon sarfraz's captaincy.
Sarfraz is an average cricketer himself may be that is why he has difficulties in recognising real quality and pedigree required for top level cricket.

 

[Plumb]

Hafeez's selection in test 11 has to be blamed entirely upon sarfraz's captaincy.
Sarfraz is an average cricketer himself may be that is why he has difficulties in recognising real quality and pedigree required for top level cricket.

Hahaha Ya We Should blame Sarfaraz for everything that is wrong with the team.

this is pakistan cricket, lots "gets considered" before anyone's selection not only performance/ability.

 

[aloo paratha]

He better be dropped for SA. Heard this Saad Ali kid is good against pace, could be useful in South Africa. For the third test in this series, have him debut at 5, Azhar to open again.

 

[Ahmed216]

Hahaha Ya We Should blame Sarfaraz for everything that is wrong with the team.

this is pakistan cricket, lots "gets considered" before anyone's selection not only performance/ability.

Why cant they consider hafeez's away record . Everyone knows in tests you want players who can score in all conditions. Next tour is in SA where even a much younger Hafeez could never get past opening spells.
Is it because of next year WC, they dont want him to become grumpy ??

 

[aukhan]

He will be a sitting duck in SA. After SA Test series he will definitely retire for good.

 

[MMHS]

I don't understand why posters are trying to fight a lost war!!! Mohammad Hafeez has beaten everyone and I actually don't write against him any more - he is having a laugh of his life browsing PP.

15 ODI's left before, and I'll still say - Sarfraz better cover your bottom side, and I am serious.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Hafeez is in the team because of his bowling but in tests Haris + Asad/Azhar/Fakhar can do the job what Hafeez is doing. In odis Haris + Saud can do the same job. Hafeez's time is up. I hope this is his last series.

 

[Justcrazy]

Inzamam is bad as selector like his predecessors . Hafeez is pointless.

 

[Kroll]

Taking up someone else's hard-earned spot, boot him out for good.

 

[Rayyman]

I don't understand why posters are trying to fight a lost war!!! Mohammad Hafeez has beaten everyone and I actually don't write against him any more - he is having a laugh of his life browsing PP.

15 ODI's left before, and I'll still say - Sarfraz better cover your bottom side, and I am serious.

Bhai you have cursed us.

 

[coy0607]

he really should only play as a bowling all-rounder

he isn't a batsmen

 

[gazza619]

He looked in good touch for the short while he was at the crease today.

 

[Bilal Ahmad15]

I believe it's a dangerous thing to have Hafeez open for Pakistan or even play at one down considering how volatile he can be. He can get a good score once a while on slow pitches however when he gets out early he puts the whole team on the back foot. I am not against him playing in the team but he should come further down the order.

We also have to consider his lack of skill against the moving new ball which can cause real issues for the batting line up once the test series starts in South Africa.

He shouldn't even be playing in test format at all. My openers would be Fakhar and Imam

 

[emranabbas]

Hafeez is not a test player he should be nowhere near the test team
I don't know what the selectors were thinking when adding hafeez into the test side. Definitely not on merit

 

[hasanali22]

Yes he should have never made a comeback to the test side but the reality is he scored a hundred four innings ago.. cant just drop him right away, that's not Mickey's style.

The best thing we can do is hope he continues to fail and is dropped after South Africa. At this point I would prefer Haris over him in the ODI side too

 

[BunnyRabbit]

He is fine in UAE. Can play spin well while he may be poor against pace, he is not Shoaib Malik level bad at playing pace. He averages around 50 in UAE and asia. He can play at a 55+ strike rate, something his replacements(Sami Aslam, Shan Masood, Shezzy, Imam or any other opener) can't do. Imam though I think can improve as he has loads of potential for Tests(can probably replace Hafeez for SA Tests). We had our top 3 batting at 30-40s SR against SL in UAE last year and see what happened there, we lost 2-0. The overly defensive batting during the 140 odd chase was the main cause of loss in that first Test IMO. We need some dynamic batters who can up the ante when required or when set.

 

[Ozeirk]

Yes he should have never made a comeback to the test side but the reality is he scored a hundred four innings ago.. cant just drop him right away, that's not Mickey's style.

The best thing we can do is hope he continues to fail and is dropped after South Africa. At this point I would prefer Haris over him in the ODI side too

He can be pretty useful down the order, he is not a bad bat if the ball is not swinging much and plays the spinners well.

He can also accelerate the run rate when needed but for all that to come into play he has to not get out and chances of that really go up when he is facing the new ball.

His wicket falling early hasn't helped Azhar Ali as well because now Azhar is playing even more defensively then he would and this can potentially kind of set the tone for the entire Pakistan's batting innings.

 

[New Yorker]

He is fine in UAE. Can play spin well while he may be poor against pace, he is not Shoaib Malik level bad at playing pace. He averages around 50 in UAE and asia. He can play at a 55+ strike rate, something his replacements(Sami Aslam, Shan Masood, Shezzy, Imam or any other opener) can't do. Imam though I think can improve as he has loads of potential for Tests(can probably replace Hafeez for SA Tests). We had our top 3 batting at 30-40s SR against SL in UAE last year and see what happened there, we lost 2-0. The overly defensive batting during the 140 odd chase was the main cause of loss in that first Test IMO. We need some dynamic batters who can up the ante when required or when set.

MoHa is the world's greatest conman. Good batsmen are judged by how they perform against the world's best, in the most difficult conditions. MoHa is judged by how he performs in the easiest possible conditions. What is more, he has convinced us that no other batsman in all of Pakistan would be capable of performing on these pitches. Even though the list of other Pakistani openers who have made hay in the UAE only continues to grow.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Even Arthur knows and understands that, but he can not do anything about it without creating unnecessary chaos. With guys like Mohsin, Wasim there Mickey would be blamed if he kept the seniors out and lost.

After the Asia Cup every other Pakistani expert called for Hafeez's experience so Inzi also thought let's solve the issue temporarily. Now they cannot remove him till he fails in a few series otherwise the media backlash will be heavy.

Asia cup was a disaster due to selection blunder. Out of form Sarfraz who should have been batting at 4 ever since he was made captain was hiding below at 6 and 7 put himself up the order at 4 and failed miserably. Commentators questioned the non selection of Haris sohail in this nzl series but they didn’t in the Asia cup. He played 1 match and never played again. Pak literally played with three specialist batsmen and continued to play “one hit 6 and 4 Asif Ali”. As a bowling unit they failed miserably in the Asia cup, not even one bowler who took more than 5 wick3ts in the entire series.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Yes he should have never made a comeback to the test side but the reality is he scored a hundred four innings ago.. cant just drop him right away, that's not Mickey's style.

The best thing we can do is hope he continues to fail and is dropped after South Africa. At this point I would prefer Haris over him in the ODI side too

Well it is indeed a writing in the wall Haris is the best batsman that they have across all formats.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Hafeez can achieve more and even prolong his career if he drops his ego to bat at 6 or just before Sarfraz in tests and ODIs. The think tank who looked for Asif Ali to play the role should have looked at hafeez to do that which he did in the champions trophy final remarkably and that was one of the main reasons which pushed the target to 340. And he is a more reliable batsmen at 5 or 6 if and when there is an early collapse, certainly not an opener anywhere in the world. We all knew that he can’t play a hint of swing even if it was from Angelo Mathews.

 

[MenInG]

Hafeez can achieve more and even prolong his career if he drops his ego to bat at 6 or just before Sarfraz in tests and ODIs. The think tank who looked for Asif Ali to play the role should have looked at hafeez to do that which he did in the champions trophy final remarkably and that was one of the main reasons which pushed the target to 340. And he is a more reliable batsmen at 5 or 6 if and when there is an early collapse, certainly not an opener anywhere in the world. We all knew that he can’t play a hint of swing even if it was from Angelo Mathews.

His shot selection at times means that he will not succeed at any position if not careful

 

[Gotham Cronie]

I wonder when the day will come when certain fans stop playing fantasy cricket and imagining Hafeez batting at 6.

 

[ask_analyse_act]

His shot selection at times means that he will not succeed at any position if not careful

Think him to be as a moeen ali or ravi ashwin like in tests.
Expectations from a no.6 will be to stay there and hammer the old ball make a quick 50 or 60 will.be more than enough

 

[ShahidDar08]

Should retire from test cricket and focus on ODI's and T20's.