Mohammad Hafeez to retire from international cricket after the T20 World Cup

Former Pakistan captain and mercurial all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez have announced that he will curtail his seventeen-year-old career after the culmination of the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, this October.

The former captain, who had retired from Test cricket back in December 2018 after having placed 55 five-day games for his country was a crucial part of the Pakistani white-ball set-up between 2007-15, a period where he also led the Men in Green in the shortest format of the game. Hafeez captained Pakistan in 29 Twenty20 Internationals, winning 17 and losing 11 while one game ended in a tie.

Hafeez wants to finish his 17-year-old career on a high, something he told during a media interaction on Friday.”It has been a privilege. I want to play the Twenty20 World Cup and then exit from Pakistan’s international team. I have played 17 years for Pakistan and tried my level best. At times I missed my bowling,” Mohammad Hafeez said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Mohammad Hafeez is set to make a comeback in the T20I team

Hafeez’s decision of retirement has come after the all-rounder was named in the Pakistan squad for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh. Hafeez will be making a comeback into the set-up after he was dropped by the selectors following underwhelming performances in the 2019 World Cup.

Head coach and selector Misbah-ul-Haq had defended the decision to bring back the senior pros as the team looks to revive its fortunes after a tumultuous 2020. The No.1 ranked team side lost eight of their nine completed fixtures.

“We never said Malik and Hafeez aren’t in our plans, we were trying out our pool of players and we felt we needed them here. Hafeez is experienced and he has so many performances, he is mature. We feel he can contribute to the team and perform for Pakistan,” said Misbah.

Talking about Hafeez performances in the limited-overs format, the all-rounder racked up 6,614 runs and claimed 139 wickets in 218 ODIs while in 89 Twenty20 Internationals, he claimed 54 wickets and 1,908 runs. Pakistan’s next T20I assignment will be against Bangladesh, whom they host for a three-match series from January 24th.

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