The dilemma that is Mohammad Hafeez

[proud_pakistani]

I feel the selection or non-selection of Mohd. Hafeez is a real dilemma. Against South Africa he bowled a very good spell which possibly set up the game for Pakistan. Then when he came in to bat he almost cost us the game with his batting. While I think he has the shots as a batsman but he just struggles against good pace bowling and is now really becoming a liability as a batsman. Him in the top 4 really is hurting Pakistan's chances.

Now the thing is what to do with him in the Champions Trophy?

Well there are some options: -

1 - Drop Azhar Ali and promote Hafeez to opener. Hafeez has a good record against Srilanka and maybe he needs an innings against Srilanka at the top of the order to get into some form

2 - Promote Sarfraz to 4 and let Hafeez bat at 6 in the lower middle order. This is an option that will not hurt us keeping him

3 - Drop him altogether. While this is the preferred option we need to look at the ground realities and understand that his bowling is an asset and it is clear that Shadab Khan being a leg spinner is a bit of a risk. If Shoaib Malik could improve his bowling this dilemma could be easily solved.

What would you guys do. From my side the best option is to keep him at 6. I shall re-order the team in the following way:

1 - Fakhar Zaman
2 - Babar Azam
3 - Haris Sohail
4 - Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk)
5 - Shoaib Malik
6 - Mohd. Hafeez

If Hafeez says he will not play lower than 3 he has to be dropped though. A player can not hold a position to ransom.

 

[Abdullah719]

No dilemma, should be benched.

If he must play for his bowling, then he can bat at #11. Or maybe #10 if Junaid is playing.

 

[Pete Rose]

There is no dilemma. If pakistan can chase or defend a score 220 every time, Hafeez should play. If not, then no

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Don't care if he picks up 3 wickets every time he bowls,he's cancerous for the team.

 

[fight_club]

Play him at 6 or 7 is the best we. his bowling will be needed

 

[IAJ]

SL have a few lefties in their top order so he should play against them. But after CT he should be dropped.

 

[New Yorker]

I feel the selection or non-selection of Mohd. Hafeez is a real dilemma. Against South Africa he bowled a very good spell which possibly set up the game for Pakistan. Then when he came in to bat he almost cost us the game with his batting. While I think he has the shots as a batsman but he just struggles against good pace bowling and is now really becoming a liability as a batsman. Him in the top 4 really is hurting Pakistan's chances.

Now the thing is what to do with him in the Champions Trophy?

Well there are some options: -

1 - Drop Azhar Ali and promote Hafeez to opener. Hafeez has a good record against Srilanka and maybe he needs an innings against Srilanka at the top of the order to get into some form

2 - Promote Sarfraz to 4 and let Hafeez bat at 6 in the lower middle order. This is an option that will not hurt us keeping him

3 - Drop him altogether. While this is the preferred option we need to look at the ground realities and understand that his bowling is an asset and it is clear that Shadab Khan being a leg spinner is a bit of a risk. If Shoaib Malik could improve his bowling this dilemma could be easily solved.

What would you guys do. From my side the best option is to keep him at 6. I shall re-order the team in the following way:

1 - Fakhar Zaman
2 - Babar Azam
3 - Haris Sohail
4 - Sarfraz Ahmed (c/wk)
5 - Shoaib Malik
6 - Mohd. Hafeez

If Hafeez says he will not play lower than 3 he has to be dropped though. A player can not hold a position to ransom.

Should just drop him. Enough. But at 6 he would do the least damage, or most as it were, swinging for the fences. If there are only 5 overs left one could then skip him and send in a slogger like Fahim if he is playing.

 

[pakistani pride]

I really really dont understand how this person gets in the team and even bats at 4. Sarfaraz is killing his own batting by coming in at 6.

If they are so keen on playing hafeez make him bat at 6 or 7.

Both hafeez and azhar are the final 2 left that are blocking the odi team to move forwards.

 

[Lupe]

I would make him open with Fakhar Zaman as the alternatives aren't great as well. So my team would be something along the lines of

1. Fakhar Zaman
2. Mohammed Hafeez
3. Babar Azam
4. Haris Sohail
5. Shoaib Malik
6. Sarfraz Ahmed
7. Imad Wasim
8. Shadab Khan/Faheem Ashraf
9. Mohammed Amir
10. Hassan Ali
11. Junaid Khan

So you have nine bowling options - Junaid Khan, Hassan Ali, Mohammed Amir, Shadab Khan/Fahim Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Mohammed Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Fakhar Zaman & Haris Sohail. Which way too many bowling options I know, but if a bowler or two are getting smashed around the park, change it up and bring a part timer like Fakhar Zaman & Shoaib Malik and maybe nick a wicket or two, like Joe Root does occasionally for England. You know to just freshen up things. I don't think the team from the squad that was chosen can be any better, just wish Fahim Ashraf had some elegant strokes as well as brutal strokes and knew how to rotate the strike slightly more, though im sure he will enhance his batting skills as time goes on.

 

[Sarfarazian92]

The fraud that is Mohammad Hafeez

 

[Speedster777]

We have lost so many games because of this hack. It beats me how this fraud keeps his place in the team with pathetic match losing performances.

 

[Salman]

When are people going to realise he is vital to this developing teams balance for the short term future, he is a decent bowler who is rarely taken to the cleaners and also one of our better fielders. Fact is he bats up the order even with his limited ability because no one else in this team has the bottle to face the newer ball, Malik, Sarfaraz etc all have the same attitude. It was Afridi who set this trend of refusing to open and it set a precedent going forward. If batsmen like Kohli and Ab can go for ducks in this CT, Hafeez hasnt done any worse.

 

[Lynx]

When are people going to realise he is vital to this developing teams balance for the short term future, he is a decent bowler who is rarely taken to the cleaners and also one of our better fielders. Fact is he bats up the order even with his limited ability because no one else in this team has the bottle to face the newer ball, Malik, Sarfaraz etc all have the same attitude. It was Afridi who set this trend of refusing to open and it set a precedent going forward. If batsmen like Kohli and Ab can go for ducks in this CT, Hafeez hasnt done any worse.

Whatever good he does with the bowling is negated due to his inept, pathetic batting. Not only that, but he's destroying the balance of the side by keeping Sarfraz from batting at his best position at number 4, where Sarfraz would be vital for the team due to his ability to rotate the strike in those middle overs. Due to Hafeez, Sarfraz's contribution with the bat is rendered meaningless. Then, keeping a player like Harris Sohail on the bench is again harming the balance of the team, as Babar could open with Fakhar with Harris slotting in at number 3, followed by Sarfraz and Malik.

So yeah, even without Hafeez, we would have decent bowling options with Harris/Malik/Fakhar sharing the duties between them. The net result of having Hafeez in the team is negative.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Pakistan can afford to drop him.

Fakhar zaman can bowl a few overs and whoever will replace him (haris/fahim) can bowl a few overs as well. Pakistan can easily get 10 overs out of fakhar , fahim/haris , malik and azhar ali.





We have 4 bowlers who can complete their quota and if shadab is doing well he can finish his quota of overs as well. Apart from that we have malik , fakhar zaman , azhar ali and haris/fahim. So yah drop hafeez.

 

[JibranAnsari]

The only guys who can not bowl in this lineup are sarfraz and babar azam.

 

[Mamoon]

Expecting a MoM against SL. A trollish 70 (90) and 2/40 type performance, before playing a rubbish, match-losing hand against England in the semifinal.

 

[Syed1]

We can keep him for the CT but he should be made to bat at number 11. I'm sure even Junaid Khan has better strike rotation ability than Prof.

 

[Syed1]

The only guys who can not bowl in this lineup are sarfraz and babar azam.

Actually Babar Azam was quite a good offie in his u19 days and used to bowl in nearly every innings. He got called for his action and I think he remodelled it and was allowed to bowl again. Hasn't bowled at international yet.

 

[Hamza_]

We can keep him for the CT but he should be made to bat at number 11. I'm sure even Junaid Khan has better strike rotation ability than Prof.

Specialist Chucker

 

[Abdullah]

Expecting a MoM against SL. A trollish 70 (90) and 2/40 type performance, before playing a rubbish, match-losing hand against England in the semifinal.

That's weird I posted that in another tread.
I think he will score big and freely and then SL have the lefties for him to bowl at

 

[Sherlock]

He's not an opener, and he's not a no.3. He simply can't be picked just on his bowling either.

Bench him and never pick him again. Time to move on.

 

[Syed1]

He's not an opener, and he's not a no.3. He simply can't be picked just on his bowling either.

Bench him and never pick him again. Time to move on.

There is some merit in playing him against SL because of the number of lefties they have. Other than that yes he doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the side.

 

[Speedster777]

He's not an opener, and he's not a no.3. He simply can't be picked just on his bowling either.

he's not an opener but he played as an opener for years , he's not middle order but he's playing as middle order specialist in important ICC tournaments, he's not a full time bowler yet he gets full 10 overs quota... I'm wondering what gheedarsinghi does he have that both Chief Selector Inzamam and Coach Mickey Arthur are in awe of him. When his batting flops he becomes a bowler when he gets caught chucking he becomes a specialist batsman. He's true definition of "Railu Katta".

 

[R1ddlR]

He should play if he has to - in the middle order, he strikes the ball extremely cleanly and should bowl more often.

 

[proud_pakistani]

He's not an opener, and he's not a no.3. He simply can't be picked just on his bowling either.

Bench him and never pick him again. Time to move on.

This is the solution in the long run. The issue is batting at 4 suggests that Hafeez is playing as a specialist batsman and his bowling is secondary. Whereas I think for the longest time it's the bowling that has been more useful to Pakistan. At the same time he's not a bowler who will run through teams and win you the game. Pakistan needs to keep faith in the specialists and hope they come good. Hafeez's batting loses us too many games to ignore this. The selectors need to take a bold stance against Hafeez. It is for selectors the toughest decision to make.