Despite Amir serving his ban and expressing remorse, Hafeez struggled to accept his reintegration into the Pakistan team in 2016
Mohammad Hafeez had strong reservations about playing alongside Mohammad Amir, who had been involved in the spot-fixing scandal in 2010.
Amir garnered worldwide sympathy due to his young age, being just 18 at the time of the scandal, and his admission of guilt.
Despite Amir serving his ban and expressing remorse, Hafeez struggled to accept his reintegration into the team. While talking on a Cricwick podcast, the 42-year-old sketched the incident, his reservations but, most importantly, how his integrity was sabotaged regardless of being on the right side of the page.
"Imagine standing in a position where you have been told that you can choose to play or not as per your will, but he [Amir] will definitely play. Unfortunately, this was coming from the PCB chairman that it's upon you whether you want to play or not," Hafeez said.
"I was genuinely disappointed. I was broken and wanted to leave everything behind because I wasn't able to absorb this. But my close allies suggested to me that I shouldn't let my positive energy go for Pakistan. The best way to go about it was to register my protest, statement and sentiments; I wasn't a decision-maker at the end of the day," he added.
In 2016, Hafeez initially opposed the return of Amir to international cricket following his completion of a five-year ban. Hafeez explicitly stated that he would refuse to be a part of the same team as Amir. However, with the intervention of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and senior players within the team, both managed to resolve their differences. As a result, Hafeez eventually agreed to play alongside Amir once again.