"Mohammad Hafeez's dismissals make me ask : Is this how you play Test cricket?" : Waqar Younis

[Cricketrenew]

Lost all respect for his viewpoints after his stint as coach, he either couldn't see past his nose or worse still....

Hafeez was a great prospect in the early years, now I am wondering what he is up to.
He has fast become another Imran Farhat.

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

To summarise:
He's been decent on UAE pitches but absolutely awful in uk, sa and elsewhere.
Given the above To say he s in top five all time openers for Pakistan is not supported by the evidence.
I am not a hater but the amount we debate on average players like hafeez is perhaps a reason why upcoming players like Sami don't get more opportunities.
Against hafeez Sami looked the snr player. He has a very simple but very effective method of being effective .
There are other players in Pakistan like this but they don't get enough air time because a) hafeez is articulate b) ppl are advocating for hafeez with brisk rush statements

He was the Allrounder so he got away with it.

Previous Openers used to play on Faisalabad Cricket Stadium (graveyard) etc. Replace that with UAE.

Had he not been an Allrounder he would have been given less chances but in my view He was a better test Opener than these 11 Openers :

1. Yasir Hameed

2. Imran Farhat

3. Imran Nazir

4. Salman Butt

5. Khurram Manzoor

6. Saleem Elahi

7. Shaan Masood

8. Shoaib Malik

9. Wajahatullah Wasti

10. Amir Sohail

11. Shahid Afridi




As a Test Opener :


1. Saeed Anwar (11 hundreds)

2. Hanif Mohammad (7 hundreds)

3. Majid Khan (5 hundreds)

4. Mohammad Hafeez (9 hundreds)

5. Shoaib Mohammad (4 hundreds)

6. Taufeeq Umar (7 hundreds)



As an Overall Test Batsman if we consider these 6 than :


1. Hanif

2. Saeed

3. Shoaib

4. Majid

5. Hafeez

6. Taufeeq

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[Im Suds]

He was the Allrounder so he got away with it.

Previous Openers used to play on Faisalabad Cricket Stadium (graveyard) etc. Replace that with UAE.

Had he not been an Allrounder he would have been given less chances but in my view He was a better test Opener than these 11 Openers :

1. Yasir Hameed

2. Imran Farhat

3. Imran Nazir

4. Salman Butt

5. Khurram Manzoor

6. Saleem Elahi

7. Shaan Masood

8. Shoaib Malik

9. Wajahatullah Wasti

10. Amir Sohail

11. Shahid Afridi




As a Test Opener :


1. Saeed Anwar (11 hundreds)

2. Hanif Mohammad (7 hundreds)

3. Majid Khan (5 hundreds)

4. Mohammad Hafeez (9 hundreds)

5. Shoaib Mohammad (4 hundreds)

6. Taufeeq Umar (7 hundreds)



As an Overall Test Batsman if we consider these 6 than :


1. Hanif

2. Saeed

3. Shoaib

4. Majid

5. Hafeez

6. Taufeeq

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Bhai come on - your first list is very arbitrary - hafeez better than Amir sohail ( who scored runs in England and Australia)?
Not better than salman butt who scored a century in Australia.
Not as talented as Imran nazir.
I think you've missed mohnsin Khan from your list also.
What's hafeez test batting average in UAE and outside it?

 

[TalentSpotterPk]

Bhai come on - your first list is very arbitrary - hafeez better than Amir sohail ( who scored runs in England and Australia)?
Not better than salman butt who scored a century in Australia.
Not as talented as Imran nazir.
I think you've missed mohnsin Khan from your list also.
What's hafeez test batting average in UAE and outside it?

That is my take. You can put him at number 20 in your list. I won't mind.


I know he has been very poor in Eng SA etc but i am not willing to ignore his overall Career.


Amir Sohail's 1st phase was impressive but than it fell apart.


Salman Butt only has 2 test centuries against Aus to cherish.


Overall they both don't have numbers nearing Hafeez.


Put Mohsin at 6 or 7.



Now without further debate you please post your ranking of Pak Test Openers with more than 1000 runs as Opener and mention their Average as Opener plus number of hundreds.



Lastly as a Test Player do not ignore Hafeez's bowling exploits & numbers.

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[waleed88]

Again, this is going by stats. I saw one of those innings, he made 20 odd runs but what impressed me was his technique against new ball, that was superior than others, he got out against spinner, so what?

This also shows that our think tank also works like most PPers who focus on stats and not really watch the game. Right now everybody is slamming Amir, because he has not lived up to what fan expected. He should be dropped now right? - He is still the best fast bowler we have, people just want instance result... Dump it if you don't get them...

If you are only going to look at stats and not actual game, If you don't have capability to analyze players technique than you should not be coach. No matter how much runs Hafeez scores in UAE, he still does not cut for me as opener so is Shaun or Shezad. They all have opposite technique than what is required for opener, why I would invest in them, if I really understand game?? - When they justify players selection based on stats and never explain why they keep selecting technically deficient players, its either corruption or Cricket literacy is not part of culture in Pakistan, both are bad for future.

By this approach they are also sending wrong message to the next up coming openers, we are telling them to play like Hafeez and Shezad, fish around, go for the ball and wait for it...Don't learn the business of reading length and line, which you don't need on low and slow wickets, keep playing flashy shots on front foot, because all coaches, selectors, fans ever look at are stats... What this culture how can we ever produce an opener? - A guy with Cook style technique (which he had even in very first test) would never be nurtured and appreciated. Nobody will ever try to be proper opener, because frankly, that has no scope in Pakistan batting culture.

Stop just looking at stats, there is more to cricket than stats guru

Another bubble busted by Sami, that world will come to end if Misbah and YK retires. Nobody has temperament to play test cricket, that's why we have to keep playing them till they are 50...

What are you talking about? As per your post you clearly wrote 'he was overlooked' which means he was never selected in Waqar's tenure. Please don't try and change your statements now.

2 test matches is sufficient time for any player to prove if he is good enough or not. Back then Sami Aslam had a problem getting caught trying to sweep the ball down the leg side. He was not playing the spinners properly and hence he was rightly benched.

Stats are not everything but if you are given a chance and you don't peform you are liable to get dropped.
Shan Masood capitalized on his removal of hence he was persisted with for a while.

Sami Aslam rectified his own problems and came back in the side and deservedly so, but please learn to follow cricket properly instead if just throwing tantrums because your rant got found out as an inaccurate one on Waqar.

He was 'not' overlooked by Waqar he failed to perform when given the chance.

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[waleed88]

If a player doesnot perform he will and most likely should get dropped.
Hafeez has end the shorter end of the yardstick from selectors because of his recent performances in Test matches against England in the UAE.
I don't get it if it's so easy to play in the UAE for everyone why did the English team fair to make q big score there?

Does scoring big only account in English and Australian conditions?

If so then the entire Indian team would be sitting on the bench for now because all of them failed in England and Aus

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[yasir]

What are you talking about? As per your post you clearly wrote 'he was overlooked' which means he was never selected in Waqar's tenure. Please don't try and change your statements now.

2 test matches is sufficient time for any player to prove if he is good enough or not. Back then Sami Aslam had a problem getting caught trying to sweep the ball down the leg side. He was not playing the spinners properly and hence he was rightly benched.

Stats are not everything but if you are given a chance and you don't peform you are liable to get dropped.
Shan Masood capitalized on his removal of hence he was persisted with for a while.

Sami Aslam rectified his own problems and came back in the side and deservedly so, but please learn to follow cricket properly instead if just throwing tantrums because your rant got found out as an inaccurate one on Waqar.

He was 'not' overlooked by Waqar he failed to perform when given the chance.

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If two test are enough, why Hafeez has given 50 tests??

We are talking about an opener and people are worried about how he plays spin, that can be taughted. Azhar improved his spin game after 3/4 years of playing test cricket. Fundamental problem is how to face the new ball, for which his technique back then was much better than Hafeez, Shaun, Shezad as it was in last test, clearly coaches and fans like you cannot see the difference and only look at stats... Rather than giving youngsters confidence, dump him after two games, now he has slapped in the face of all fans and coaches alike

There is a reason Pakistan never produces opener, because they try to adjust middle or lower order batsmen like Hafeez and Shezad in opening slot, who don't like to play seamer, they rather face spinners all day. If they are happy playing spinners then they should Compete with Misbah and YK for the slot, not openers, that should be given to guys who have technique to face new ball, otherwise you will always have opening problem... But think tank does not understand the job requirement of opener as most of the PPers

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Waqar himself always like Hafeez.

He was too Busy fighting with Shehzad, that he forgot all about his other opener Hafeez.

 

[MenInG]

Waqar Younis speaking on TV earlier:

"The last session yesterday really put Pakistan on the back foot. Chasing 300 runs is very difficult, and Pakistan is not known to challenge such totals in the last innings, therefore, England did well."

"There will be more media criticism targeting Hafeez than Younis because his overseas record is not very good, especially outside of Asia where he has not done much and this was a make or break series for him, returning from injury. The way he has been getting out is the big question mark. Is this how you play Test cricket?"

"Look at Sami Aslam, on the other hand: A young 20-year-old, who is very compact and plays close to the body."

"On the other hand, Hafeez is looking to play shots very early in the innings, and when he loses his wicket, it puts so much pressure on Pakistan in the beginning that it’s hard to combat, especially when Younis is also struggling and Asad didn’t really do well, so it’s a huge question mark."

"We all knew that Azhar has got a technical issue and he will fix it. He has done really well in England in the past tour, but with Hafeez there are so many shots too early in the innings; it’s asking for trouble all the time, and I’ll be very surprised if he gets picked for the Oval Test match."

"You’ve tried Sami and he did well for you, do you really want to go with Hafeez? Why not go with Iftikhar, as he will bat at number six, and he may give you 15-20 overs of bowling a day and that can also cover the fifth bowler issue."

"I think Pakistan should not lose hope. They haven’t lost the series, and they can always come back and draw the series. The Oval pitch probably will suit Pakistan; a bit more bounce, it’ll be dry, might spin and bounce a bit more for Yasir Shah. So I think Pakistan should not lose hope and the fast bowlers need to put their feet up. The batsmen need to get into the nets and fix their problems if they really want to come back in this series."

Guess Waqar has changed his mind recently on Hafeez or is Hafeez getting better with age?

Granted this is about Test cricket.