Daily Times

LAHORE: A day after being demoted from Category A to B in PCB’s list of centrally contracted players, veteran cricketer Mohammad Hafeez is reportedly considering retirement from international cricket, media reports said on Tuesday. Hafeez, 37, had been a perennial recipient of the Pakistan Cricket Board’s top category contract, but that changed on Monday when his place in the highly exclusive group of six was given to rising star Babar Azam. That hasn’t gone down well with Hafeez, who, according to sources close to him, is now disillusioned due to “discriminatory treatment” and, as a result, “cannot continue to keep on playing. “Hafeez will not sign the central contract.” Perhaps to add credence to the “discriminatory” argument, the sources recalled that coach Mickey Arthur had dropped Hafeez in the first four matches of last month’s ODI series against Zimbabwe. “Hafeez had then refused to play the fifth match in protest,” the sources added.

Hafeez, who has represented the Men in Green in 50 Tests, 200 ODIs and 83 T20Is, where he collectively scored 11,224 runs with the help of 20 centuries, 55 half-centuries and also claimed 239 wickets, has had a difficult last year where he was once again reported for his bowling action and also lost his place in the limited overs side. The decision to demote Peshawar Zalmi all-rounder was reportedly taken by director cricket operations Haroon Rashid, chief selector Inzamamul Haq, director academies Mudassar Nazar and was approved by PCB chairman Najam Sethi. “Hafeez has decided to question the PCB why he was demoted to category B. If he don’t get any satisfactory answer, then he is considering making himself unavailable in future for the team selection and will part ways with the national team without taking official retirement,” sources said.

Published in Daily Times, August 8^th 2018.