Hafeez ready to accept fate
Batsman Mohammad Hafeez's berth remained in jeopardy on Thursday, as Pakistan plotted the composition of the squad for next month's series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.
Batsman Mohammad Hafeez's berth remained in jeopardy on Thursday, as Pakistan plotted the composition of the squad for next month's series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates.
While Hafeez remains a permanent fixture in the ODI fold, a stretch of poor form in the longest form of the international game has copped plenty of criticism and calls for his ousting.
The right-hander's last 10 Test match innings, spanning series against South Africa and Zimbabwe, have brought a mere 102 runs, with a highest score of 22 – at the Harare Sports Club earlier this month.
"It's not a bad patch, it's not form too," said Hafeez. "It happens in cricket, you try your best but sometimes you can't perform in a particular format. It's not a matter of technique even, the ball is coming on to my bat but I am not able to play a big innings. It happens with any big cricketer.
"If you look at Test series we played against South Africa six months ago, we didn't play first-class cricket until the Zimbabwe series this month, so it's a lengthy gap and it's not easy to adapt yourself in the format after such lengthy gap. But yes it's not an excuse, I admit that in the previous five Test matches my performance has not been good and I am concerned about it.
"I am playing well in the other formats and it's not like that I am not doing the handwork, but maybe I need to be doing more handwork. I am just one big inning away from being settled in the format. But the selectors' job is to pick the best team for Pakistan, if they think my place is there in the team, they will pick me, otherwise I will accept their decision."
The first Test will get underway at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on 14 October. The second and final Test will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Five ODIs and two T20Is will follow.
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