Birth date: 1980-10-17

Hometown: Sargodha

Teams: Pakistan, Faisalabad, Faisalabad Wolves, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sargodha, Sui Gas Corporation of Pakistan

Debut: Test: Aug 20-24, 2003 ODI: Apr 3, 2003 T20I: Aug 28, 2006

 

 

 

Mohammad Hafeez is a right handed opening batsman and right arm off spin bowler.

 

Up until 2010, Hafeez had been in and out of the Pakistan squad since making his debut in 2003, without actually cementing his place in either version of the game.  His comeback on the tour of England in 2010 led to a newfound consistency in his game. The new Mohammad Hafeez was performing well with both bat and ball with technical deficiencies having been worked upon in his time off. Hafeez became a mainstay in the side and solidified his position as a spinning all-rounder in the team forming a respectable spin trio with Saeed Ajmal and Shahid Afridi.

 

Consistent performances in all three formats earned him the captaincy for the Twenty20 team. Ever since, many have criticized his defensive batting approach in the T20 format which tends to put extra pressure on other batsmen.  In the 2012 ICC Twenty20 World Cup, Hafeez successfully led Pakistan to their fourth consecutive Twenty20 World Cup Semi Final where they lost to the home team Sri Lanka. 

 

Some excellent performances in T20s, notably against South Africa and India have led to some calling for him to take over from MIsbah-Ul-Haq as captain in Tests and ODIs. However his form in those formats has been inconsistent, and a desperately poor Test series against South Africa meant he may be waiting a while longer before expanding his captaincy to the other formats.

 

His consistent failures against Dale Steyn not withstanding, Hafeez has made a surprise return to the Pakistan Test Squad after an explosive batting performance against Sri Lanka in late 2013

 

The World T20 tournament in Bangladesh in 2014 resulted in his fall from grace as his team crashed out in the Super 10 phase. He duly resigned from his position as T20I captain and also gave up his role as vice captain in ODIs and Tests.

Hafeez has been a regular in all formats since then and has shown patches of brilliant form in both tests and ODIs. In December 2013, Hafeez scored 3 centuries in four matches in the ODI series against Sri Lanka in the UAE with two of them being unbeaten knocks. He has been consistent in Test cricket as well and had a particularly fruitful series against New Zealand in November 2014 where he scored 2 centuries and a double century over the course of the three match series.

 

In late 2014 Hafeez faced a major setback when his action was found to be over the legal limit and was hence banned from bowling. This was a major blow to Pakistan's team combination and to make matters worse Hafeez injured himself in the two match ODI series in New Zealand just weeks before the 2015 World Cup and ended up missing the mega event.

Mohammad Hafeez managed to work on his bowling action under the tutelage of Saqlain Mushtaq and was able to get himself cleared for the tour of Bangladesh. Despite failing in the ODIs, Hafeez scored a double century in the second Test and kept his place for the historic home series against Zimbabwe.

 

Hafeez is one of the senior members of the side now and will be hoping to play a leading role for Pakistan in the next few years.

 

Last updated 18 June 2015