Pakistan need to move on from Mohammad Hafeez: Mohammad Zahid

In May, Hafeez was served a show cause notice by the Pakistan Cricket Board for his outburst against the ICC’s process of calling suspect actions.

Mohammad Zahid, the former Pakistan fast bowler, believes that the national team needs to look for a replacement for the veteran allrounder Mohammad Hafeez as it locks in its core group of players for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Hafeez, 37, played just two T20Is in Zimbabwe last month in which he scored 7 and 0 and took wickets, while in in five ODIs in New Zealand back in January he scored 1, 60, 0, 81 and 6. Hafeez was allowed to resume bowling in international cricket from May 1, after his rejigged action was cleared by the ICC following another report in October 2017 which led to his third ban in November. In mid-May, Hafeez was served a show cause notice by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for his outburst against the ICC’s process of calling suspect actions, in which he termed something “suspicious”.

Writing for pakpassion.net, Zahid urged the PCB to move beyond Hafeez with an eye on 2019 in England.

“The recent controversy regarding demotion in the central contract category for Mohammad Hafeez has also caught my attention. I for one feel that he has played enough cricket for Pakistan and it is now time to move on from him and give his place to a youngster,” wrote Zahid, a tearaway fast bowler who played five Tests and 11 ODIs between 1996 and 2003.

“I believe it’s time for Mohammad Hafeez to make way for a younger player and to be fair, our young lads have been doing a great job so that should not be a problem for Pakistan. There is still time left before the 2019 World Cup for a replacement for Mohammad Hafeez to be developed so all is not lost if he is removed from the equation.”

In an international career that started in 2003, Hafeez has played 200 ODIs, 83 T20Is and 50 Tests.

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