Ex-Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez announced his retirement on Monday, closing the chapter on an 18-year-long career.
The 41-year-old batter will continue to play domestic cricket and will be available for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022, he announced at a press conference. Hafeez made his international debut in 2003 against Zimbabwe and represented Pakistan for the last time against Australia in the ICC T20 World Cup 2020 semi-final.
“I am very happy and satisfied with my career and achievements,” Hafeez said. “These are Pakistan’s achievements.” Hafeez thanked Pakistani cricket fans for standing by him through the years and “accepting my failures.” “I am very happy at my journey and I would want them also to celebrate my retirement,” he said to his fans. “I will try to entertain my fans with however much cricket I play in the days to come.”
Hafeez, who announced his retirement from Test cricket in 2018, has played 55 Test matches, scoring 3,652 runs at an average of 37.64. Hafeez has scored 10 centuries and 12 half-centuries. From the 218 ODIs he played, Hafeez scored 6,614 runs at an average of 32.90, scoring 11 centuries and 38 half-centuries.
He played 119 T20Is, scoring 2,514 runs at an average of 26.46. He scored 14 half-centuries. Another achievement that made Hafeez stand out was his penchant for winning Player-of-the-Match awards, which he won 32 times, the fourth-highest among Pakistan players in all of international cricket. Hafeez was also a member of the team that beat India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. He played in all but one T20 World Cup, the one that Pakistan won in 2009 under Younis Khan’s captaincy.
