Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has decided to retire from international cricket, ending an illustrious career spanning over 18 years. One of Pakistan’s longest-serving cricketers, Hafeez took the wraps off his Test career in 2018.
After making his international debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe, Hafeez represented Pakistan in 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is and scored 12,780 runs across all formats. During his career, he won 32 Man of the Match awards, the fourth highest among Pakistan players across all formats. Shahid Afridi (43), Wasim Akram (39) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (33) are above him.
“Today I say goodbye to international cricket with pride and satisfaction. In fact, I have earned and achieved much more than I initially thought and for this, I am thankful to all my fellow cricketers, captains, support staff and Pakistan Cricket Board…,” Hafeez posted by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.
“… of course, my family made great sacrifices to ensure that I have achieved my aspirations of representing Pakistan at the global level,” the statement added.
“I am extremely fortunate, fortunate and proud to have been considered eligible to donate a national kit with the emblem of Pakistan for 18 years.
“When you have a professional career, as long as mine, you are bound to have your share of ups and downs, and I was no different. Apart from the results, I can say with confidence,” Hafeez said. That I had more heights because I had the privilege of playing with and against some of the best exponents of bat and ball of my era.”
In the ICC Player Rankings, Hafeez holds the highest Test rankings at 22nd in batting, 29th in bowling and fifth among all-rounders.
In the ODI rankings, Hafeez’s highest position was 13th in March 2014, while he topped the bowling and all-rounder charts in August 2012 and January 2013 respectively. Hafeez’s ranking in T20Is was equally impressive, reaching ninth in batting in February 2007, third in bowling in August 2013 and number one among all-rounders in March 2014.
PCB chairman Rameez Raja thanked the veteran for his service to the game.
“Hafeez has been a whole-hearted cricketer who worked tirelessly in his game for a long and fruitful career,” Raja said.
“His game evolved over time, adapting to different formats quite intelligently. Later in his career, he became a T20 specialist where he has never been exposed to the modern demands of this test format. His batting took a sharp turn, hitting sixes almost of his own accord.
“He is proudly wearing a green colored blazer for which we are thankful to PCB. I wish him the very best for his future life and thank him again for his stupendous contribution to Pakistan cricket,” concluded Raja.
Hafeez, however, will be available to play franchise cricket. He has recently signed with Lahore Qalandars for the upcoming edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL).
(with agency input)
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