Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
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"We don't have Bradmans waiting. These are our best players" : Mohammad Hafeez on Pakistan Test team
Mohammad Hafeez speaking on a TV show on GNews:
"The most important thing for me was to leave with respect and to leave before time so that I am satisfied and those who replace me also have enough time"
"I wanted to leave everything aside and focus on my white ball cricket ahead of the World Cup. I want to give performances like I did in the Champions Trophy, I want to ready myself for big performances"
"I was thinking about this since 2-3 weeks, it was a tough decision and I was very worried about it but I eventually realised I should retire and focus on white ball cricket"
"Chairman Mani saab called me and congratulated me and acknowledged my career"
"I felt this was the very best time for me and for Pakistan as well, so that the boys who performed in domestic cricket this season and have been waiting to return get an opportunity at their peak time so that they can provide their services to Pakistan for the next 10-15 years"
"People can think whatever they want. If anyone thinks I am leaving (because of SA series) then I want to say that Pakistan's Test cricket is not going to come to an end after the SA tour. If I am 38 and I think I can play for 4-5 years, I could have continued playing. But I took this decision for Pakistan's better interest, I don't have to convince anyone about this and I think I made the right decision. This was the best time for all those cricketers who were waiting to represent Pakistan after the end of the domestic season. With their performances, it's ideal that they get an opportunity right now, rather than 9 months later when the next series is which would be unjust. I think this was the best decision for myself and for Pakistan cricket"
"I wanted to leave a legacy unlike those in the past, it's a tradition to not retire as cricketers and I always wanted to do that. Even now my white ball cricket, I will leave that as soon as I think my performances and fitness are not good enough, or if there are boys ready to play for Pakistan for the next 10 years"
"Those people who think I left Test cricket because I don't want to tour South Africa, well in ODIs there will be the same bowler and I want to play. There is nothing wrong if a person wants to leave with respect. If something thinks negatively about that then I pray for that person to become positive"
"I didn't have differences with anyone in the management"
"The letter I wrote was not against anyone, it was about me as a cricketer, I wanted to know whether I am in Pakistan's future plans. If I am, I would like to continue my services for the Pakistan team and if not, then I should be told clearly so I can step away with respect"
"Pakistan team has very good players for the SA tour, the bowling is very strong and we have good Test cricketers. The biggest challenge nowadays is how well you perform in away series so we need to see whether these Pakistani cricketers who have been providing their services such as Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam who is getting better, Sarfaraz Ahmed, these are the players who have been performing well for Pakistan in the last few years. I strongly believe that if you play with confidence, conditions can't affect you if you are confident and know your role. I feel that Pakistan have a very good chance because the bowling is strong and in batting, we have players who have performed all over the world"
"Tell me is there a better Test cricket in Pakistan than Azhar Ali? Or Asad Shafiq?"
"There is no doubt that Misbah and Younis had a big impact in Test cricket and performed in all home and away series to give Pakistan stability. But in these last 8-10 years, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq also played a strong role. But after their departure, someone has to fill the role such as Babar Azam and Haris Sohail. You already have two cricketers who are amongst the best players in Test cricket in Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. If we have to criticise them after every 1-2 performances and say we should bring in better cricketers, we don't have Bradmans waiting. These are our best players. Criticising them is unfair as they have given their services for Pakistan and can continue to do so for the next 3-5 years depending on their fitness and we have to support them"
"Unfortunately, Pakistan always used to win or draw series but now we have lost two series against SL and NZ so Sarfaraz is under pressure. Our media and people always want to see victories and players want that too but when the captain gets under pressure, he needs to have strong nerves. My advice for Sarfaraz is to give the media respect, to respect the critics. Counter arguments have no benefit, only performances can serve the purpose. My advice for him is to absorb the criticism and the pressure, a captain has to take this when things aren't going well. I think he is a very good player but since he became captain, his performances have not been very good. I think he needs to focus a lot on his own performances and answer the critics with the team's performance and leave the rest. PCB trusts him so he just needs to answer people with his own and the team's performances and forget about the rest ahead of the SA series"
"The Champions Trophy win masked all the deficiencies and we only saw that we came back with a win. After that when Sarfaraz was given the Test captaincy, we need to have some patience and give some time to him, and the team. He's played around 10 matches as captain and now we start doing a post-mortem. To Sarfaraz, he shouldn't feel bad about what critics say, if the team doesn't do well then all of us, all the players are at fault. But what's best for Sarfaraz is to answer people with performances"
"When you come to a position of responsibility, you have to have the strength to make your own decisions. When I was captain in 2012-14, I was responsible for my decisions. I made my decisions myself with strong discussions with the selectors, either I would convince them or they would convince me. At the end of the day, if I'm captain, I am answerable. If someone else has too much power then that is due to my weakness. My own strength as a captain and my domain shouldn't be allowed to be intruded upon. This is my own opinion, I don't know who is strong and who is weak inside the team right now but this is my opinion"
"In meetings with Inzamam-ul-Haq, I just told him one thing. As a chief selector, whenever he didn't feel the need for me in any format, he should tell me openly and I will step aside. Besides that, I didn't demand anything"
"I didn't ask for surety for selection, I only asked to know about which format I wasn't wanted in. The current pool of 20-25 players for the World Cup includes me but I have to justify that with performances and my fitness, there's no surety of selection"
Mohammad Hafeez speaking on a TV show on GNews:
"The most important thing for me was to leave with respect and to leave before time so that I am satisfied and those who replace me also have enough time"
"I wanted to leave everything aside and focus on my white ball cricket ahead of the World Cup. I want to give performances like I did in the Champions Trophy, I want to ready myself for big performances"
"I was thinking about this since 2-3 weeks, it was a tough decision and I was very worried about it but I eventually realised I should retire and focus on white ball cricket"
"Chairman Mani saab called me and congratulated me and acknowledged my career"
"I felt this was the very best time for me and for Pakistan as well, so that the boys who performed in domestic cricket this season and have been waiting to return get an opportunity at their peak time so that they can provide their services to Pakistan for the next 10-15 years"
"People can think whatever they want. If anyone thinks I am leaving (because of SA series) then I want to say that Pakistan's Test cricket is not going to come to an end after the SA tour. If I am 38 and I think I can play for 4-5 years, I could have continued playing. But I took this decision for Pakistan's better interest, I don't have to convince anyone about this and I think I made the right decision. This was the best time for all those cricketers who were waiting to represent Pakistan after the end of the domestic season. With their performances, it's ideal that they get an opportunity right now, rather than 9 months later when the next series is which would be unjust. I think this was the best decision for myself and for Pakistan cricket"
"I wanted to leave a legacy unlike those in the past, it's a tradition to not retire as cricketers and I always wanted to do that. Even now my white ball cricket, I will leave that as soon as I think my performances and fitness are not good enough, or if there are boys ready to play for Pakistan for the next 10 years"
"Those people who think I left Test cricket because I don't want to tour South Africa, well in ODIs there will be the same bowler and I want to play. There is nothing wrong if a person wants to leave with respect. If something thinks negatively about that then I pray for that person to become positive"
"I didn't have differences with anyone in the management"
"The letter I wrote was not against anyone, it was about me as a cricketer, I wanted to know whether I am in Pakistan's future plans. If I am, I would like to continue my services for the Pakistan team and if not, then I should be told clearly so I can step away with respect"
"Pakistan team has very good players for the SA tour, the bowling is very strong and we have good Test cricketers. The biggest challenge nowadays is how well you perform in away series so we need to see whether these Pakistani cricketers who have been providing their services such as Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam who is getting better, Sarfaraz Ahmed, these are the players who have been performing well for Pakistan in the last few years. I strongly believe that if you play with confidence, conditions can't affect you if you are confident and know your role. I feel that Pakistan have a very good chance because the bowling is strong and in batting, we have players who have performed all over the world"
"Tell me is there a better Test cricket in Pakistan than Azhar Ali? Or Asad Shafiq?"
"There is no doubt that Misbah and Younis had a big impact in Test cricket and performed in all home and away series to give Pakistan stability. But in these last 8-10 years, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq also played a strong role. But after their departure, someone has to fill the role such as Babar Azam and Haris Sohail. You already have two cricketers who are amongst the best players in Test cricket in Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq. If we have to criticise them after every 1-2 performances and say we should bring in better cricketers, we don't have Bradmans waiting. These are our best players. Criticising them is unfair as they have given their services for Pakistan and can continue to do so for the next 3-5 years depending on their fitness and we have to support them"
"Unfortunately, Pakistan always used to win or draw series but now we have lost two series against SL and NZ so Sarfaraz is under pressure. Our media and people always want to see victories and players want that too but when the captain gets under pressure, he needs to have strong nerves. My advice for Sarfaraz is to give the media respect, to respect the critics. Counter arguments have no benefit, only performances can serve the purpose. My advice for him is to absorb the criticism and the pressure, a captain has to take this when things aren't going well. I think he is a very good player but since he became captain, his performances have not been very good. I think he needs to focus a lot on his own performances and answer the critics with the team's performance and leave the rest. PCB trusts him so he just needs to answer people with his own and the team's performances and forget about the rest ahead of the SA series"
"The Champions Trophy win masked all the deficiencies and we only saw that we came back with a win. After that when Sarfaraz was given the Test captaincy, we need to have some patience and give some time to him, and the team. He's played around 10 matches as captain and now we start doing a post-mortem. To Sarfaraz, he shouldn't feel bad about what critics say, if the team doesn't do well then all of us, all the players are at fault. But what's best for Sarfaraz is to answer people with performances"
"When you come to a position of responsibility, you have to have the strength to make your own decisions. When I was captain in 2012-14, I was responsible for my decisions. I made my decisions myself with strong discussions with the selectors, either I would convince them or they would convince me. At the end of the day, if I'm captain, I am answerable. If someone else has too much power then that is due to my weakness. My own strength as a captain and my domain shouldn't be allowed to be intruded upon. This is my own opinion, I don't know who is strong and who is weak inside the team right now but this is my opinion"
"In meetings with Inzamam-ul-Haq, I just told him one thing. As a chief selector, whenever he didn't feel the need for me in any format, he should tell me openly and I will step aside. Besides that, I didn't demand anything"
"I didn't ask for surety for selection, I only asked to know about which format I wasn't wanted in. The current pool of 20-25 players for the World Cup includes me but I have to justify that with performances and my fitness, there's no surety of selection"
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