Your last point is very valid. He’s one of the few seasoned voices out there in the middle accompanying Babar. I’d like to see him continue this form for another few years, to be honest, though not sure how long he can last.
Where do you think this sudden mental clarity has come from? Why has he suddenly decided to simplify his game? Could it be that being dropped by Misbah made him reevaluate? That just doesn’t seem like that big of an impetus to change your approach so drastically when you’re already nearing retirement age. Why has he never had this incentive before?
And why does he credit golf so much?
There is no one event that one can point to. If I do, It will still possibly be off the mark because maturity comes overall and takes into account a lot of factors.
But still if I have to point out, then these are the things which I believe have played a big role.
Hafeez has always played his best cricket when he has attacked the bowling; his innings against India in 2013 and 2017 come to mind.
He has always been a good self reflector of his game and his dropping by Michey Arthur in 2018 must have given him some leads as to why he has been failing despite having the ability to be a top batsman.
Ever since then we have consistently seen the attacking Hafeez which would otherwise come out sporadically in the past.
I believe he failed in the 2019 world cup because, his newfound philosophy was still in the works, with regards to execution. But since then, he just seems to get better and better.
Playing golf has also played a significant impact as he himself alludes to.
The sport requires a lot concentration, and everything depends on your swing and mechanics of execution; there is no room for emotions or powering yourself through to a win, which is very much possible in batting (there are no inside edged fours in golf)
Therefore, this clarity of purpose and focus on execution alone that he trains for in golf has perfectly offset his former weakness of thinking too much and focussing less on just doing the right things.
Now he just goes to the batting crease and plays each ball on its merit. He has always had natural timing and a good stroke player's technique. Therefore, with this mindset, all he does now is react to the ball.
It is incredible what a guy has to go through to learn something which seems so simple to talk about.
But this is how life is.
Most of the time, our problems are the result of simple things that we ignore and do wrong, and Hafeez was no different.
