Mohammad Hafeez retires from international cricket

Mohammad Hafeez has announced his retirement from international cricket, ending more than 18 years of career in Pakistan.

“Today I want to officially retire from the beautiful journey I started with cricket in Pakistan 18 years ago,” Hafeez said when announcing his retirement at a press conference in Lahore. “I represented Pakistan with great pride, and whatever I have played in 18 years, I played with dignity. And whether it was on or off the field, I tried to raise the Pakistani flag high. I am very happy and satisfied with my game. Career and achievements were all for Pakistan. So this is to me.”

Hafeez, 41, recently signed with Lahore Qalandars for a future PSL version and confirmed that he will continue to be available to franchise teams around the world “as long as I’m fit and able to attend shows.”

Hafeez retired from test cricket in December 2018, when the electorate later decided to look past him at the ODI after the 2019 World Cup, where he played his last match in this form – Against Bangladesh in the Lord.

But when he was knocked out of the T20I side in 2018, he was called back to the home series against Bangladesh in 2020, and he ended the year with an excellent run: he was leading runner in the same form that year, scoring an average of 83 and a strike rate of 152. He also ended the year overall sixth highest running points on all T20s, third highest average and third best strike percentage.

Although he had originally announced that the 2020 T20 World Cup would be his last mission to Pakistan, the tournament was postponed to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and Hafeez ended up extending time in Pakistan.

“The decision is what my heart told me, and it is not guided by the critics. For me, the critics had already begun [criticising] since 2003, and people thought I wasn’t a good player. I didn’t want to turn my beautiful, positive journey into a negative one, so I’m here to start my international cricket, and [am] stop it here. ”

“When you have as long a career as I do, you’re guaranteed to have the ups and downs of your share, and it wasn’t different for me,” he said. – Apart from the results, I can confidently say that I had more ups and downs because I had the privilege of playing with and against the best racket and ball representatives of my era.

“While cricket has been a great learning school for me, this great sport has given me the opportunity to visit different countries, get to know their cultures and make friends. These are lifelong memories I come to cherish every day. “

Ramiz Raja, The chairman of the PCB, was one of the people who had asked Hafeez and Malik to “retire gracefully”.

Asked if his decision was dictated by the PCB, Hafeez replied, “The decision is what my heart said to me and is not guided by the critics. For me, the critics had already started [criticising] since 2003, and people thought I wasn’t a good player. I respect their opinions and I have always respected them. By no means did I want to turn my beautiful, positive journey into a negative one, which is why I am here on PCB [office, at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium], where I started my international cricket. And [am] stop it here. “

Last year, Hafeez was on a collision course with a PCB because of his central contact. He rejected the Class C contract, stating that he was dissatisfied with the lowest grade offer. He has since played domestic cricket without a contract because he wanted to continue as a freelancer.

Hafeez’s international debut took place at ODI Against Zimbabwe in 2003, his last match turned out to be a defeat for Pakistan against Australia T20 World Cup Semifinals last November.

He played 55 tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is, collecting 12,780 different formats, and won 32 player-match prizes. fourth highest Among Pakistani players in all international cricket, only Shahid Afridi (43), Wasim Akram (39) and Inzamam-ul-Haq (33). Hafeez also earned nine Player-of-the-Series awards in various formats.

He is the only Pakistani to have played in all but one of the T20 World Championships so far – the one they finally won in 2009 – and has a Pakistani record in most T20 World Championships. As captain, Hafeez led Pakistan to the 2012 World T20 semifinals, but was also the captain when they were eliminated in the group stage in the 2014 version, for the first time before they had reached the semifinals. tournament. Hafeez’s overall T20I record as captain is 18 wins – one in a single throw – and 11 losses in 29 matches.