Mohammad Hafeez does not get the credit he deserves: Shoaib Akhtar

Pakistan’s legendary fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar, on a local sports channel, claimed that veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez did not get the credit he deserves for his remarkable contributions to the Pakistan side over his illustrious career.

The 44-year-old claimed that Hafeez was used whenever the Men in Green were stuck in a tight corner.

“I think Hafeez’s contributions for Pakistan are plenty. However, he does not get enough credit for his work. If you look at ODIs and T20s, he wasn’t used much in Tests, whenever Pakistan used to get into a tight corner they called on Hafeez to step up. This was true particularly in terms of bowling,” Akhtar said.

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The Rawalpindi Express stated that the veteran all-rounder was seen as a stock bowler rather than a match-winner despite taking many wickets.

“His contribution was taken as a stock bowler, not as a match-winner. Even when he took wickets, he was suddenly changed. They thanked him for the wicket and asked him to step aside. I don’t think they did justice to Hafeez. I think Hafeez has done really well for himself both off and on the field. He has played great cricket for the last 10 to 15 years,” he said.

The former pacer believed that overthinking caused problems in Hafeez’s career but he still managed to achieve many great things.

“Hafeez has always been a utility cricketer. He was an over-thinker first, then he became a bowler, then he became a batsman and then he did justice to his batting as well. If you see his timing, it was great. He could time the ball very well. Hafeez could have accomplished much bigger things if he didn’t overthink it too much,” he said.