Mohammed Hafeez retires from International cricket - Discuss his legacy

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He has himself to blame for this.

He wouldn't let go of his spot as an opener in the team. Coaches told him to bat lower down but he wouldn't listen. Had he recognised earlier in his career that he wasn't an opener, he would've ended his career as a world class lower middle order batsman.

It's so tragic that it took so long to implement where he really belongs in the team. The performance in the 2017 CT final is a glimpse of what not only Pakistan fans have missed out but also what world cricket has missed from him.

Don't know if there's proof of this. If there is, correct me I might be wrong. But I repeatedly saw Hafeez saying he would bat at any position in interviews. He also moved down to 3 when he was captaining himself too.

A lot of the time when he was opening, opening was considered an unfavourable position. We struggled to find good openers. We had a lot of middle order competition at the time, umar akmal, maqsood, malik, misbah, afridi, razzaq etc. who were rated higher than Hafeez for middle order. I think it was the case of playing Hafeez there because by trade he was an opener, and he would be able to keep his place there anyway given his ability with the ball at the time. Better than bringing in another opener instead which no one rated.

I think it was more management lacked the vision and belief that Hafeez could develop into something more down the order. He played a lot down the order when the opening spot became seen as the easier position, and we had better batsmen come into the team like Babar, Imam, Fakhar, Haris. In these situations, I feel it's more the coaches and managements responsibility to correctly identify where to get the best out of a player.

Always been a fan of Hafeez since I saw him in 2011 or so. Was clear he should have been a better batsman than he was. Still I think he had a good career, even when he was worse with the bat, he made it up with the ball. The entire time post 2011, he made the team on merit whether it was bat alone, or combination of bat and ball. There are very few cricketers who managed to have a good career during Misbah's era in LOI, and Hafeez was one of them. I think he deserves credit for that, it isn't easy performing when the team was that weak.

 

[Firebat]

Felt that he underachieved with the gift of timing that he had.

But it was impressive how he managed to reinvent himself in his later years as a high-performing mainstay in the white-ball side, all thanks to golf

 

[Jazx]

A really mediocre batsman during his initial phase of career. Saw him during early 2000s in an ODI series against South Africa where he was trying to defend almost each and every delivery. Was dropped, but once he made a comeback he was a far better player and a very sweet timer of the ball. Overall since after 2003 hafeez was one of those rare opening batsmans from pakistan who was flashy and a very sweet timer of the cricket ball.

 

[moghul]

Overall and average cricketer who had a long career due to luck and other reasons . But, he is smart, educated and could be a good coach if he gets the required qualification . Also, should try his luck, given chances , as a commentator also . He can't be worst that Amir Sohail.