Mohammad Hafeez's debut in International Cricket
The former Captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in T20 internationals and one of the reliable genuine all-rounders out there, Mohammad Hafeez has now made a name for himself by performing on numerous occasions, showing his capability with both bat and ball as well as leadership skills. Let’s take a look at how he burst into the scene in International cricket.
Debut and Early years: Hafeez made his debut for Pakistan way back in 2003 but it was nothing more than a very rocky start to his International career. He played his first ODI on 3rd April 2003 against Zimbabwe in the Cherry Blossom Sharjah Cup. Though Pakistan claimed a comfortable victory in the match, Hafeez failed to make an impact with the bat as he scored just 12 runs. Although he took two wickets in his ten overs but that was hardly anything outstanding. He played his first Test later that year between 20- 24th August in which he scored a 50 in the second innings and took one wicket in the match. The opposition was a weak Bangladesh. After these matches, he kept on coming in and going out of the squad as he wasn’t consistent enough to warrant a regular place in the side. This happened for nearly five years and things were not going particularly well for Hafeez at that time.
He was recalled for the ICC World T20 in 2010 but here again, he failed to register anything positive. Still, the selectors persisted with him and he finally rewarded them with his excellent displays in the ODI series in England and South Africa. The year 2011 saw him cement his place in all three formats of the game as he won 10 ‘Man-of-the-match’ awards and amassed 1000 runs and 30 wickets in ODIs in a calender year. This established him as an all-rounder to reckon with as he joined the league of legends like Jacques Kallis and Sanath Jayasuriya in achieving this unique feat. He is currently the third most economical bowler in Pakistan’s history (with bowlers over 100 wickets).
Since then, The Professor, as he is also known (for his strategizing and excessive advices during matches), became a star of the National side, claiming most victories as a captain in T20s and notching up few records of his own in the process.