Says no regrets, satisfied with career
Former captain and veteran all rounder Mohammad Hafeez on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket, adding, however, that he will continue to play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and other cricket leagues.
The 41-year-old announced his decision at a press conference in Lahore. “I started this journey 18 years ago, and I’m announcing my retirement today,” he said.
“I played for Pakistan due to the pride [I felt]. I didn’t have greed, I didn’t want to earn money, I only played for pride. I have no regrets of any kind. I am completely satisfied [with my career].
“It’s not that physically I can’t play on. I could have played the next World Cup as well but I de-cided to retire myself.
“If at any time or event [in future], any success is attained [by the national team], it will be mine as well.”
Hafeez said he neither needs a farewell from the cricket board, nor has he asked for one.
PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja, who has had his war of words with Hafeez over the years, lauded him for his “strong work ethic” and said he’d ad-justed well in all the three formats of the game.
“His game evolved with time, adjusting to dif-ferent formats quite intelligently,” Raja is quoted as saying by Associated Press. “Later in his career, he became a T20 specialist, where he was never out of touch with modern demands of this testing format. His batsmanship took a sprightly turn, nailing sixes almost at will.”
Hafeez, also known as the Professor, began his professional cricket career in 2003. He will be re-membered more for his exploits in white-ball cricket, especially in T20s, where he was ranked the number one all-rounder in the world in 2014.
His last match in Pakistan colours was the World Cup 2021 semi-final defeat to Australia when he came in to bat at the very end of the innings and finished unbeaten on 1 run off 1 ball. His most no-table contribution in that game was a bizarre dou-ble-tip ball that Australia’s David Warner smacked for a six.
