Mohammad Hafeez Height, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Mohammad Hafeez

• Mohammad Hafeez is a former international cricketer from Pakistan who played for the side across all three formats. He was primarily an allrounder who was a hard hitter and can deliver useful part-time bowling when needed.

• Mohammad Hafeez made his international debut after Pakistan’s early exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003 group stage. He did not perform well in his initial matches though he scored a half-century on debut against Bangladesh, as a result, he was dropped from the latter matches in late 2003 from Tests followed by One-dayers.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez was congratulated by Younis Khan and Taufiq Umar after taking a wicket on 3 April 2003

• Following his excellent performances in the domestic circuit, he was again brought back to the squad in 2005.

• His first century came against Bangladesh on 27 August 2003. While Pakistan was struggling to find a solid opening pair for the test, Hafeez was promoted up the order in the batting against England at the Oval where he scored gritty 95 runs.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez sweeps for his 95 against England in 2006

• Following that performance, he was retained in the test series against West Indies in November of that year. His second century came against the same side in Karachi.
  

  Mohammad reached his 2nd century on 30 November 2006 against West Indies at Karachi

• In the 2010 ICC Twenty20 World Cup, he could only score 39 runs and taken two wickets in six matches of that series. Despite that performance, he was selected for the T20s and ODIs on the Pakistan 2010 tour of England. In that series, he emerged as the 2nd highest run-scorer for Pakistan which includes the crucial partnership with Kamran Akmal.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez celebrates after removing Bangladesh’s Tamim Iqbal on 1 May 2010 in the ICC World Twenty20

• For the series against South Africa in UAE, Hafeez replaced Salman Butt and achieved a batting average of 32.50 while batting at the top order. He established himself as the permanent member of the test side after the series against New Zealand and West Indies.

• His first major performance in ODIs came against India during the 2012 Asia Cup at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on 18 March 2012 when he scored 105 runs off 113 balls and was involved in 224 runs partnership with Nasir Jamshed. This partnership is the best opening partnership in ODIs against India for Pakistan surpassing Aamir Sohail and Saeed Anwar’s record of 144 runs in 1996.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez 224 runs partnership with Nasir Jamshed helped Pakistan to win the match on 18 March 2012 in Mirpur (Dhaka)

• He scored his fourth international century against Bangladesh at Dhaka in 2012. His highest test score of 196 runs came against Sri Lanka at Colombo in June 2012. In December 2012, he helped Pakistan to chase a mammoth target of 191 runs against India in the T20 International match. He also scored 76 runs in the 2nd ODI against India and had a crucial partnership with Nasir Jamshed to help Pakistan win their first ODI series in India after seven years. These performances helped to establish himself as the premier allrounder along with Shahid Afridi.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez working towards the leg side for his 196 runs against Sri Lanka in 2012

• In December 2013, he scored 122 in the first match, unbeaten 140 runs in the third match, and unbeaten 113 runs in the fourth match thus becoming the 2nd batter after Zaheer Abbas to have 3 centuries in an ODI series.

• In 2015 the ICC World Cup took place where Hafeez was ruled out due to a calf injury and was replaced by Nasir Jamshed.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez after hitting the third century of the series against Sri Lanka in December 2013

• On 20 December 2020, he scored 99* off 57 balls against New Zealand in their second T20I at Hamilton. On 31 July 2021, he bowled the most economic spell in T20I by giving away six runs in four overs against West Indies.

• In May 2012, he was made the captain of the Pakistan T20 team and vice-captain of the ODI and test team under Misbah-Ul-Haq. As a captain, he led Pakistan to victories over South Africa, West Indies, and Zimbabwe. He also equaled the record for the most win as a Pakistani captain in the T20s and the most number of a series win as the captain of Pakistan. Under his captaincy, Pakistan reached the 2nd spot in the T20I World rankings.

• After Pakistan’s exit from the 2014 ICC World Twenty20, Hafeez stepped down as the captain of the side. Pakistan’s former captain Imran Khan criticized his decision and advised him to stay as the captain.

• In March 2016, Pakistan’s early exit from the 2016 World Twenty20 caused great controversy on the side. Team member Younis Khan accused Hafeez of lying about his knee injury before the T20 series.

• Despite his bad performance in the 2016 World Twenty20, Hafeez was picked for England’s tour in 2016 where he was out several times on duck, and only once did he scores 11 runs in the first ODI match. Following this bad performance, he was left out from the rest of the series. He missed many important series which include the West Indies series in UAE.

• He was then picked for the Pakistan tour of Australia in 2017 to play the ODI series. In the first match, he could only score four runs and in the next match, as Azhar Ali was left out due to injury, Hafeez was given the captaincy of the Pakistani ODI side. Under his leadership, Pakistan won the match for the first time in 12 years in Australian land. In that match, he also scored 72 runs and earned the player of the match award.

• He was then named to Pakistan’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Except for his performance in Pakistan’s second match of the tournament where he scored 84 runs off 62 balls against England and took an important wicket of their captain Eoin Morgan, his performance in the rest of the tournament was ordinary with his low strike rate scores of 16, 9, 20, 32, 19, and 27. He also went for an expensive economic rate of almost 6 per over.

• On 23 June 2020, Hafeez was tested positive for COVID-19 along with six other players in the team. But soon, a report came where he was tested negative. He played his 100th T20I match against South Africa on 10 April 2021. In September 2021, he was included in Pakistan’s squad for the 2021 World Twenty20 tournament in UAE.

• Talking about his IPL career, he was selected once in the Kolkata Knight Riders team in 2008 where he scored 64 runs in 8 matches and manage to take one wicket. He was then opted from the IPL 2009 due to the Mumbai Terror attack in 2008.

• He also played in Pakistan Super League (PSL) for the Peshawar Zalmi side and was picked by the side for a whopping US$70,000. He then left the franchise after representing the side for three years and was picked by Lahore Qalandars in the fourth edition of PSL.
  

  Mohammad Hafeez celebrates after taking a wicket in PSL 2016-17

• Besides, IPL and PSL, he also played in the Bangladesh Premier League for Dhaka Dynamites in December 2015. Three years later in December 2018, he joined Rajshahi Kings for the sixth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

• On 3 January 2022, he announced his retirement from international cricket. However, he would be available for the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League. Talking on his retirement, he said, ^[11]Indian Express Limited
  

  “Today I say goodbye to international cricket with pride and satisfaction. In fact, I have earned and accomplished more than I had initially envisaged and for that, I am thankful to all my fellow cricketers, captains, support staff, and the Pakistan Cricket Board who helped me out during my career.”

  Further, he adds,

  “And, of course, my family who made big sacrifices to ensure I achieved my aspirations of representing Pakistan on a global stage. I am extremely fortunate, lucky and proud to have been considered worthy of donning the national kit with Pakistan emblem for 18 years. My country and my team have always been at my forefront and therefore, every time I stepped on to the field, I tried to raise their profile and image by playing hard and tough but within the rich traditions of spirit of cricket.”

  Hafeez announces retirement from international cricket
  More details: https://t.co/RYLJ7gp5Ro pic.twitter.com/8PYAfaJlPW

  — Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) January 3, 2022

• PCB’s chairman Ramiz Raja said,
  

  “His game evolved with time, adjusting to different formats quite intelligently. Later in his career, he became a T20 specialist, where he was never out of touch with the modern demands of this testing format. His batsmanship took a sprightly turn, nailing sixes almost at will. He has worn the green blazer with pride for which we at the PCB are thankful. I wish him the best of luck for his future life and thank him again for his magnificent contribution to Pakistan cricket.”

  

  Mohammad Hafeez speaking to the media while announcing his international retirement

  

  Mohammad Hafeez in Lahore on 3 January 2022