Image Credit- PCB
As he prepares to return to the TV studios in advance
of the ninth season of the PSL, Mohammad Hafeez’s reign as the captain of
Pakistan cricket has officially come to an end. Hafeez oversaw tours to
Australia and New Zealand while serving as the men’s national team’s squad
director and de facto head coach. However, he declared on social media a day
prior to the PSL’s commencement that his tenure had been “cut short”
by the “new chairmanship” of the board, alluding to Mohsin Naqvi, the
newly appointed PCB chairman.
“I accepted the new role as a director PCB with great passion to make
positive reforms but unfortunately my designated tenure which was offered by
the PCB for 4 years was cut short for 2 months on the account of new
chairmanship,” Hafeez said on X (formerly Twitter).
Though the duration of Hafeez’s appointment to the
twin duties was never specified, it occurred in November. The government
specifically prohibited the then-interim administration, headed by Zaka Ashraf,
from appointing people for long periods of time. Although a four-year term was
offered to him, considering the political unpredictability leading up to the
elections, it was unlikely that a long-term role would ever be a feasible
option.
Results on the pitch did not improve under Hafeez’s
tenure. For the sixth time in a run, Pakistan lost a series in Australia,
despite playing Australia more closely than on any of their previous tours.
Then, in a T20I series in New Zealand, they were destroyed 4-1, with Shaheen
Afridi leading Pakistan for the first time as captain.
Even though his tenure was brief, there were several events that occurred
throughout it. He supported Pakistan’s tough stance against Haris Rauf after
the latter eliminated himself from consideration for the upcoming Test series
against Australia. Rauf’s central contract has since been cancelled as a result
of that. Hafeez additionally barred Pakistan’s Under-19 cricket team from
competing in the country’s National T20 Cup, citing that T20s would distort the
basics of their game.
In Australia, Hafeez complained about the surface
Pakistan played their warm-up game ahead of the first Test on, then said
Pakistan played better than Australia in the Boxing Day Test they lost by 79
runs and blamed the “curse” of technology and poor umpiring for the
loss.
“Best wishes for Pakistan cricket future,” Hafeez said. “As
always, I foremost take responsibility and put myself accountable for all my
executions in my given time and will accordingly reveal all the cricketing and
other amateur non-cricketing facts which ensue bad performances. Stay
tuned…”