Akhtar blasts Arthur for questioning Hafeez’s commitment to Pakistan

Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the ex-Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur for questioning veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez’s commitment to the national side.

Arthur recently took a dig at Hafeez, after the all-rounder accused the former Men in Green coach of promoting favoritism and selecting players based on likes and dislikes during his tenure.

“All I will say is that I liked players who could win games for Pakistan and were professional in all they did,” Arthur said. “I disliked players that sat in their comfort zones and felt Pakistan cricket owed them something.”

While speaking on a local channel, Akhtar extended his support to Hafeez as he believes the all-rounder has given his all for the country and has been a loyal servant of Pakistan cricket.  

“Hafeez is absolutely right about Mickey Arthur having likes and dislikes for certain players. However, Arthur saying that Hafeez wasn’t fully committed to Pakistan is a wrong statement,” Akhtar said. “Hafeez has been playing for Pakistan for 15 years and you [Arthur] came to Pakistan for only 15 to 25 months and you have called him a traitor. What right does he have to say that Hafeez is not committed to his country? It takes a lot of hard work and struggles to play 15 years for Pakistan. How can you question those 15 years of commitment through just one statement? ”

“Arthur wasn’t some legend or a high performance coach, he was just ok. He was a good manager. He spent two years of his coaching with Pakistan very cleverly and one year on the back of Champions Trophy win. Don’t come here and tell me that I am not committed to my country,” he added.

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Last year, wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal had also made similar allegations against Arthur.

“Don’t know about this new team management but the previous one highly promoted favouritism. They didn’t give respect to the players who performed at the domestic level,” Kamran said.