http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Hafeez-c76898 - the Professor - Part 2 – Opinion
Continued from Part 1...
Hafeez also has the ability to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 for example, had to grapple with Hafeez’s
immaculate line and length in the first ODI, and eventually resorted to a massive heave over the leg side. He missed the ball, which cannoned into the stumps; giving Pakistan their first wicket and helping them come back into the game after a miserable performance
with the bat. Hafeez has won games for Pakistan with his bowling; the truth however, is that he is at his very best when Pakistan has had a formidable score to defend, but that certainly doesn’t mean that he is not effective when pressure besets the team.
He helps http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 gnaw their way back into games where their poor batting performance lets them down.
There have been times when Hafeez was literally, unplayable. The first Quarterfinal of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Cricket World Cup of 2011 at Dhaka against the West Indies for example, brought out the best in Hafeez, and left the West Indian batsmen clueless, dazed and bemused
over what had hit them. Hafeez’s languid approach was strangely poetic, as his stride to the crease was followed by a sharp deployment of an array of deliveries that had the islanders poking, defending and eventually faltering under pressure.
The fact that Hafeez only managed to pick up 2 wickets in that knock-out clash would not justify the impact that he had on the outcome of the game. What is more noteworthy, is that he picked up two wickets and conceded just 16 runs in ten overs, with an
economy rate of just 1.6 runs per over. Those figures are remarkable in the modern game, where the margin for error is minimal. Hafeez however, definitely billed himself as a partnership breaker in that encounter, and an undisputed instigator of a run drought,
which ensured that the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 would eventually fold to 112.
Then came his batting in that game and games which came after Pakistan’s phenomenal run in the World Cup. In the Quarterfinal, Pakistan was Chasing 112 to win and Hafeez smashed a devastating 61, which gave the side a defining victory and a semi-final berth.
Despite his contributions with the bat being rather inconsistent afterwards, that innings against the West Indies was a hint of what Hafeez could do with the bat in his prime. Oppositions tend to rue over the fact that Hafeez’s wicket is not considered as
prized as maybe Afridi’s or Umar Akmal’s, and it is precisely this fact, that makes Hafeez becomes a dangerous batsman.
Regardless of his occasional lapses on the field or with the willow in hand, Pakistan is definitely pleased to have him as a utility cricket, and his exploits as one of the senior players in the team have made him a force to be reckoned with. The fact that
he is called the ‘Professor’ in the dressing room is a compliment to a player who could analyse a cricket match or situation tactically, and work it as if it was a mathematical equation. However, ensuring that Pakistan gets straight ‘As’ and surge up the ranks
is Hafeez’s greatest challenge.
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