Won't survive if you don't produce match-winning contributions, reveals Mohammad Hafeez
Mohammad Hafeez justified his place in Pakistan's T20I squad when his 67* off 49 balls helped his team clinch the second T20I versus Bangladesh and also the series. Hafeez was extremely satisfied with his knock and revealed that he had taken inspiration from teammate Shoaib Malik's unbeaten half-century in the first T20I.
Here's what he told ESPNCricinfo after the match:
"It was a superb opportunity for me to represent Pakistan again and contribute in getting Pakistan a winning momentum."
"I am really happy the way Shoaib Malik played a magnificent inning on a difficult situation and pitch and won a game for Pakistan, and that was something to learn from. So today with my innings, I am more than happy to be able to help Pakistan win a game," he further added.
Hafeez and Malik have provided the experience that Pakistan were lacking and immediately have made an impact on the team. Hafeez believed that this depth of experience helped him when he was new to the Pakistan team. He felt that it was his duty to pass on that experience to the next generation of cricketers and he would certainly do whatever is beneficial for the team.
"You always take experience alongside. Even when I got out in the first innings with a mistake, sitting outside watching Malik's innings with the youngsters, I was telling them to observe the winning process, how Malik is playing and his control. You have to learn it and apply it. We have great talent in our country, but there is there is a need for more work on the development of the game."
"I had shared a dressing room with an example in front of me in Inzamam ul Haq - who scored over 10,000 runs, [Mohammad] Yousuf, who was scoring a hundred every second or third innings, and Shoaib Akhtar. So we learnt from them and understood that you won't survive in the team if you don't produce match-winning contributions."