Mohammad Hafeez surprisingly omitted from the ODI squad at the last moment

Experienced Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez’s name was inexplicably omitted from the ODI squad scheduled to face Australia from 13th January. Despite all parties agreeing to include Hafeez in the squad including the tour selection committee and national selection committee panel headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq he was left out at the last moment.

The star player from Pakistan is eligible to bowl in international cricket again after getting clearance on his action from the ICC. The opening batsman has also recuperated fully from his knee injury and that was the prime reason that the tour selection committee managed to convince chief selector Inzamam to include Hafeez in the final squad.

However, when the team was eventually announced a day later, Hafeez’s name was not included which came as a huge surprise to many. “It is surprising that the national selection committee omitted Hafeez’s name at the last moment despite principally agreeing to it as he could have proved to be an important player against Australia,” a team official was quoted as saying by Dawn on condition of anonymity.

“He is bowling again and his value increases greatly because he is a very difficult bowler in shorter formats and with Australia having left-handers in their line-up, he could have been more than handy. Even when he was banned from bowling, Hafeez remained an important contributor so his omission despite unanimous understanding between all stakeholders leaves a big question mark.”

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Hafeez was apparently shocked at his omission from the squad and plans to meet Inzamam anytime soon to know the reason behind his omission despite performing consistently for Pakistan especially in coloured clothing.

Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was also in contention for a national comeback after his stellar run in the domestic circuit. But Arthur prevented that from happening as he wanted a youngster in the squad who could be groomed for the future. Middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq who recently impressed in the Test series against Australia was added to the squad at the last moment.

Some of the players in the national team are not happy with Arthur’s tactics and the way of dealing his players. His public shaming of players after a poor performance is dimmed as childish. “We all saw what happened to the Australian team when Arthur was their coach and you see similar sort of pattern emerging with Pakistan team as well. He (Arthur) wants to get rid of the seniors while his statements regarding likes of Mohammad Irfan and Sohail Khan have been totally uncalled for given his post. What he should be doing or saying behind doors is being done in front of a camera and this leads to bad blood in the dressing room,” a senior player of Pakistan was quoted as saying the Dawn.

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“The head coach completely loses his cool when the team fails and whatever he says in the heat of the moment really hurts the players. After whatever he did to Irfan on the England tour when he had developed cramps due to jet leg was appalling. So how can he earn his respect in the ODIs?” he concluded.