Profile of Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

 Muhammad Hafeez

Profile of Muhammad Hafeez

An opening batsman and a more than decent off-spinner, Mohammad Hafeez, came into the Pakistan side after their early exit from the 2003 World Cup. He made a promising start to his Test career, scoring a half-century on debut against Bangladesh and followed it up with a century in the next match. However, his form in ODIs suffered a dip towards the end of the year, and he was left out of the Test side as well. Despite being dropped, Hafeez remained in the sidelines and continued to score heavily in the domestic circuit. 

He returned to the ODI squad in 2005 but did not impress with the bat. He came back to the Test side in The Oval Test against England in 2006, and scored 95 runs, which helped him retain his spot for the home series against West Indies, later that year. He did well against the West Indies, but consistent failures against South Africa in early 2007, made him lose his spot again. 

Hafeez had to wait for another three years before he returned to the side during the World T20, 2010. His form was poor as he managed only 39 runs and took two wickets in the six matches that Pakistan played. However, he was picked up for the T20 and ODI series against England and was the second highest run-scorer for Pakistan, forming match-winning partnerships with Kamran Akmal. This performance, merited his inclusion in the team for the South Africa series, replacing Salman Butt as the opening batsman in both the Tests. He also played the five-match ODI series and was the top run-scorer. 

He remained a part of Pakistan's 2011 World Cup plans and was drafted into the ODI side against South Africa in Abu Dhabi. After putting up fine performances in that series, he went on to tour New Zealand, where he showed good form . He had a decent 2011 World Cup, and won the Man of the Match in the quarter-final game against West Indies. 

Things got better for him post World Cup, where he enjoyed a dream run during the tours of West Indies and Zimbabwe. He scored 246 runs at an average of 54 in the five-match ODI series against West Indies, apart from taking six wickets. His good form continued in the Test format in Zimbabwe, where his 119 in the first innings earned him the Man of the Match award. In 2011, he went on to win as many as 10 Man-of-the-Match awards in all formats of the game and became the third player after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis to score 1,000 runs and take 30 wickets in ODIs in a calendar year. 

In March 2012, in the Asia Cup against India, he scored a patient 105 off 113 balls and was involved in a record opening partnership of 224 runs for Pakistan along with Nasir Jamshed. The year became better for Hafeez as he was named the captain of the T20 side in May and led Pakistan to the semi-final in the World T20 in Sri Lanka. Later that year, he accrued his highest score in Tests, making 196 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. 

His consistent performances with bat and ball assured him of a permanent place in the Pakistani side. During the tour to India later in 2012, his aggressive and fearless performances helped Pakistan win the first T20I and second ODI quite convincingly. He scored 116 runs in the two T20Is and 76 in the second ODI to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India in seven years. However, the tour of South Africa once again raised questions about his ability at the top as he managed only 43 runs from three Tests. 

Hafeez had a decent 2013. He scored aggressively in the T20Is against South Africa and performed brilliantly in the series against Sri Lanka in December 2013. He amassed more than 400 runs in the five-match ODI series, which included three centuries, becoming only the second Pakistani batsman after Zaheer Abbas to score three tons in an ODI series. He also scored two fifties in the 2014 Asia Cup. 

Hafeez had a poor T20 WC in Bangladesh. He also didn't do well as a skipper as Pakistan did not go through to semi-finals for the first time in five World Cups. He soon decided to step down from captaincy. Meanwhile, the selectors did not pick him for the Test series against Sri Lanka, but soon brought him back for the Australia series in UAE. Though he failed in two Tests, Hafeez made up for that by scoring heavily against New Zealand. The allrounder, accumulated 418 runs in the two games, which also included two tons. The ODI series that followed, saw Hafeez being suspended from bowling in international cricket, due to a suspect action. Nonetheless, he continued to play in the side as a pure batsman. Unfortunately for Hafeez, he was ruled out of the 2015 50-over World Cup due to an ankle injury. 

Source;cricbuzz