Former Pakistan captain Hafeez retires from international cricket
The announcement by Mohammad Hafeez marks the end of an 18-year career that included a 12-month ban from bowling because of a suspect action on the field.
Mohammad Hafeez, 41, last played for his country at the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE in October-November last year when Pakistan lost in the semi-final to eventual champions Australia.
Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has announced his retirement from international cricket, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning nearly two decades in the national team with whom he won the Champions Trophy in 2017.
"Today I say goodbye to international cricket with pride and satisfaction," Hafeez, who will continue to play club cricket having signed up with Lahore Qalandars for the Pakistan Super League T20 competition, told reporters on Monday.
"In fact, I have earned and accomplished more than I had initially envisaged and for that, I'm thankful to all my fellow cricketers, captains, support staff and the PCB who helped me out during my career."
My journey of pride representing 🇵🇰 came to an end & i m proudly retiring from international cricket with great satisfaction & joy. Thank u all for 18 years of support. Maintaining highest level of pride & dignity always is my most valuable achievement. Pakistan 🇵🇰 Zindabad
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) January 3, 2022
The 41-year-old all-rounder made his debut in 2003 and went on to play 55 tests, 218 one-day internationals and 119 Twenty20 internationals, scoring 12,780 runs across the three formats and claiming 253 wickets overall.
He last donned Pakistan colours in their T20 World Cup semi-final defeat by Australia in Dubai in November.
His last ODI was against Bangladesh in 2019 while his final test appearance came a year earlier against New Zealand.
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'T20 specialist'
Hafeez made his name as an opening batsman but also proved to be a handy off-spinner in white-ball cricket, topping the International Cricket Council rankings for bowlers and all-rounders in August 2012 and January 2013.
He was also ranked the number one T20 all-rounder in March 2014.
"His game evolved with time, adjusting to different formats quite intelligently," PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said.
"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."
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