Mohammad Hafeez: an 18-year career with bat and ball

From 2003 to 2021, one player came in and out of the Pakistan side who opened the batting, bowled off-spin with the new ball and fielded well at point. He was Mohammad Hafeez. According to ESPNcricinfo, in 2011 he scored more than 1,000 runs and took more than 30 wickets in ODI cricket in a single calendar year. He was the third player to do so, after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis³. He played 392 international matches across all three formats and scored 12,780 runs¹.

Early life and start of his cricket career

Mohammad Hafeez was born in Sargodha on 17 October 1980. He was a right-handed batter and off-break bowler. In domestic cricket he represented Sargodha, Faisalabad and Sui Northern Gas².

His first ODI was against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on 3 April 2003. The next day he scored 50 against Sri Lanka. On 20 August 2003 he made 50 in the second innings of his first Test, against Bangladesh in Karachi. In the fourth innings of the next Test, in Peshawar, he scored 102 not out. His 104 against the West Indies in Karachi in November 2006 was his second Test century¹.

According to ESPNcricinfo, he could not secure a regular place in his first seven years because he could not turn good starts into big innings. His innings had the beauty of the cover drive, but big scores were rare³.

2011: everything changed

According to ESPNcricinfo, the change began with the series against South Africa in November 2010. In 2011 he scored two Test centuries and three ODI centuries, and was named Man of the Match ten times that year. In the Bulawayo Test in September 2011 he scored 119 and took 4 wickets for 31 runs. He also played an ODI innings of 139 not out against Zimbabwe in Harare¹. According to the same profile, his opening partnership with Taufeeq Umar became Pakistan’s most stable Test opening pair. Hafeez’s aggression balanced Taufeeq’s defensive style³.

His major Test innings came after that: 196 against Sri Lanka in Colombo in June 2012; 96 and 101 not out in the same Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in November 2014; 197 in Sharjah in the same month; and 224 against Bangladesh in Khulna on 28 April 2015, his highest Test score. His 151 against England in Sharjah in November 2015 is also a memorable innings¹.

ODIs: centuries and the Champions Trophy

In March 2012 he scored 105 against India at the Mirpur stadium in Dhaka. According to ESPNcricinfo, in December 2013 he scored three centuries in four matches against Sri Lanka³. These were 122 in Sharjah on 18 December; 140 not out in Sharjah on 22 December, his highest ODI score; and 113 not out in Abu Dhabi on 25 December. On 11 July 2015 in Dambulla he scored 103 and took 4 wickets for 41 runs in the same match against Sri Lanka. These are his best ODI bowling figures¹.

On 18 June 2017, in the Champions Trophy final against India at The Oval, he scored 57 not out off just 37 balls, batting at number five. According to ESPNcricinfo, this is perhaps his most famous innings. It gave Pakistan a total that India could not get close to³. On 3 June 2019 he scored 84 off 62 balls against England in Nottingham. His last ODI was against Bangladesh at Lord’s on 5 July 2019¹.

T20s and captaincy

In his first T20 international, against England in Bristol on 28 August 2006, he scored 46. In the 2007 T20 World Cup he opened with Imran Nazir. According to ESPNcricinfo, he often opened the bowling too, especially in T20s³. From 2012 to 2014 he captained Pakistan in 29 T20 internationals, including two T20 World Cups¹⁴.

In the last years of his career his bat spoke even louder in T20s. He scored 86 not out off 52 balls against England in Manchester in September 2020. His 99 not out off 57 balls against New Zealand in Hamilton on 20 December 2020 is his highest T20 score. His last T20 international was against Australia in Dubai on 11 November 2021¹.

Statistics

Source: ESPNcricinfo Statsguru¹. The figures are for his international career.

Impact and legacy

In the 107 ODIs that Pakistan won with him in the side, Hafeez scored 3,804 runs at an average of 40.9, including 8 centuries¹. According to ESPNcricinfo, he gave the team many options. He could bat aggressively or defensively as needed. His control of line and length was such that a captain could give him the ball at any stage of an innings³.

After the 2023 ODI World Cup he was appointed Director of the Pakistan team. He was also head coach on the tours of Australia and New Zealand⁵. His off-side drives played with the full face of the bat, and his quick innings in the 2017 final, keep Mohammad Hafeez alive in the memories of Pakistani fans.