Pakistan Selector Reveals Why Mohammad Hafeez Is Not In Squad For South Africa T20Is

Pakistan’s chief selector Mohammad Wasim has revealed that Mohammad Hafeez’s participation in Abu Dhabi T10 League is the reason behind his exclusion from South Africa T20is. The veteran batsman was the leading run-scorer for Pakistan in T20is in 2020 and has been in great form of late but he won’t be available in time for Pakistan due to the COVID-19 protocols.

Mohammad Hafeez has represented Pakistan in 55 tests, 218 ODIs, and 99 T20is while scoring 3652, 6614, and 2323 runs respectively. He used to bowl off-spin for Pakistan and was really successful with his bowling earning a spot as an all-rounder in the team. The 40-year-old has played a lot of impressive knocks for Pakistan and has always been an integral part of the famous India Pakistan rivalries. Mohammad Hafeez is a versatile batsman and can play both attacking as well as defensive cricket.

Big Names Dropped From Pakistan Squad

Big names like Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, and Shadab Khan have been missing from the T20 squad against South Africa. Uncapped leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, all-rounder Amad Butt and batsman Danish Aziz are also part of the 20-man squad while opening batsman Fakhar Zaman has been dropped from the squad. The squad also includes the return of Asif Ali, all-rounder Aamer Yamin and pacer Hasan Ali. Babar Azam who is second on the ICC batsman rankings for international T20s will be leading the squad against South Africa.

“Hafeez is in prolific form and he would have been part of the squad if he was available. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to join the bio-bubble [due to participation in T10 League] by February 3 which is why we have not considered him for the series. Following the Covid-19 protocols is mandatory for everyone involved,” said Wasim on the exclusion of Mohammad Hafeez, as reported by Cricket Pakistan.

Pakistan Squad For T20is Against South Africa:

Babar Azam, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Hussain Talat, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mehmood

Important Series For Pakistan

It will be an important series for the Pakistan team as they will be preparing for the 2021 T20 World Cup to be held in India later this year in October. The three-match T20 series will get underway on February 11, with the second and third T20Is on February 13 and 14 respectively with the constant venue being Lahore at the famous Gaddafi Stadium.