After being removed by the Pakistan Cricket Board as the director of the national men’s team, Mohammad Hafeez has come up with his first response. Hafeez was appointed to the post after Pakistan’s debacle in the ODI World Cup 2023. He replaced former head coach and Australian veteran Mickey Arthur. However, Hafeez was not able to end Pakistan’s poor form in international cricket and they faced humiliating losses against Australia and New Zealand.
While writing on ‘X’, Mohammad Hafeez stated that he always represented Pakistan with dignity and pride. Hafeez stated that he accepted the role of the Pakistan Cricket Team director with passion, however, unfortunately, his tenure was cut short from 4 years to 2 months by the new Pakistan Cricket Board management.
Mohammad Hafeez further concluded that he will make all the revelations that have resulted in the poor performance of the team during his period as the director of the team.
Mohammad Hafeez issues first response after being sacked as director of the Pakistan cricket team
I always Prioritise and represented Pakistan with dignity and Pride. I accepted the new role as a Director pcb with great passion to make positive reforms but Unfortunately my designated tenure which was offered by @TheRealPCB for 4 years was cut short for 2 mnths on the account…
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) February 16, 2024
Mohammad Hafeez wrote, “I always Prioritise and represented Pakistan with dignity and Pride. I accepted the new role as a Director pcb with great passion to make positive reforms but Unfortunately my designated tenure which was offered by PCB for 4 years was cut short for 2 mnths on the account of New chairmanship. Best wishes for Pakistan cricket future. As always, I foremost take responsibility and put myself accountable for all my executions in my given time and will accordingly reveal all the cricketing and other amateur non cricketing facts which ensue bad performances. Stay tuned…”
Apart from Mohammad Hafeez’s removal from the Pakistan cricket team director, the PCB has also terminated the contract of Pakistani pacer Haris Rauf. Rauf didn’t participate in the Test series against Australia and preferred playing in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Stars.
Over the past three years, the Pakistan Cricket Board has seen three chairmen. After the resignation of Zaka Ashraf as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Punjab Province caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi was appointed as the new head of the PCB in the first week of February.
Pakistan’s performance in international cricket has only declined due to the instability in the board. The Pakistani team saw defeats in the home Test series at the hands of Australia and England along with elimination from the 2023 ODI World Cup. Pakistan lost the privilege of hosting the Asia Cup at this time, and it was subsequently hosted under a hybrid format.
In addition to losing the three-match Test series to Australia in a humiliating rout, the Pakistani cricket team also suffered a 4-1 defeat in the Twenty20 International series against New Zealand.
The Pakistani team has only been able to win games against low-ranked teams which include Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Also, the pace battery which was known to be the strength of the Pakistani team, the performance has only declined over the period of the last 2 years. The pace bowling has proved to be a weakness of the team and main players such as Shaheen Shah Afridi have also performed averagely with the ball.
Babar Azam also resigned as the captain of the side after Pakistan’s debacle in the ODI World Cup 2023. Soon after their early exit from the tournament, all the Pakistan’s support staff was fired.