Mohammad Hafeez: The real Boom Boom

munirnadeem · Apr 1, 2012

Mohammad Hafeez: The real Boom Boom

March 31, 2012

He does not hit mammoth sixes like Afridi, nor does he celebrate every wicket in his style. He quietly goes about his business in the field and does not star in ‘Cool Cool’ commercials. PHOTO: REUTERS
When Pakistan cricket was hit by the spot-fixing scandal two years ago, many thought it was going to be the cause of demise of cricket in the region. We felt humiliated when two of our best bowlers and the captain were found guilty of deliberately bowling two no-balls against England at Lord’s. However, soon after that Pakistan not only managed to reach the semi-finals of 2011 World Cup but also managed to destroy the number one Test side England by white-washing them 3-0.
Pakistan’s success in the World Cup has been attributed to the sharp but sometimes erratic leadership of Shahid Afridi, while their almost flawless performance in Tests has been brought about under the captaincy of Misbahul Haq. While it is only fair to give both of them credit in resurrecting Pakistan cricket, there is one man who stands miles ahead when it comes to individual contributions.
Most Pakistanis would think that the person worth discussing here would be Shahid Afridi himself but, surprisingly, it is not. One player in my opinion has been instrumental in rescuing our team – Mohammad Hafeez.
Hafeez is the low-profile all-rounder who mostly keeps to himself during matches; he does not hit mammoth sixes like Afridi, nor does he celebrate every wicket in his style. He quietly goes about his business in the field and does not star in ‘Cool Cool’ commercials.
In fact, due to our unconditional love for Afridi, we have overlooked Hafeez’s contributions in rescuing Pakistan. In a society where it is a sin to criticise Shahid ‘Boom Boom’ Afridi, there has not been a single article or blog acknowledging the Professor’s significance.

When Afridi scored a 22-ball 30 and took one wicket in the Asia Cup final after a dry spell of five matches, he was rewarded with accolades. But the most consistent all-rounder of the last couple of years has been mostly overlooked by our public.
Hafeez made his debut in 2003 and even played in that year’s World Cup, however he did not perform consistently and was dropped. He was picked for a few matches in 2005 and 2006, but apart from a few decent scores he again failed to make any substantial contributions with either bat or ball.
It was in 2010 that proved to be the turn-around year for him but the same year proved to be one of the darkest in Pakistan cricket with three of the team’s frontline players axed due to a spot-fixing scandal. While Test format proved to be too demanding for ‘Boom Boom’, the calm and composed Hafeez scored pretty decently in the ill-fated tour of England.
After that he has been an integral part of the Pakistani Test team. Since 2010, in 15 matches, he has scored 967 runs at an average of 38.7 and has taken 22 wickets at an average of 26.
In the ODI format, Hafeez has a similarly exceptional record as an all-rounder. Since 2010, in 51 matches, he has scored 1,759 runs at an average 36.6 and taken 42 wickets at an average of 33. He is perhaps the most consistent opener Pakistan has seen since the days of Saeed Anwar.
He has also proven himself to be the premier all-rounder of our team in ODI’s. After a strong series against Bangladesh he has peaked at number two in the ICC ODI bowler rankings. Currently he stands at number five in the ICC ODI bowlers ranking and he is the third-best all-rounder in the world, eight points ahead of Afridi.
You can never count out Hafeez in any type of format. If he fails with the ball, he strives to compensate for it when he bats and when he disappoints with the bat, he curtails the flow of runs with the ball.
He has troubled many of the world’s batsmen recently and unlike Afridi and Umar Akmal, once he is set, he seldom throws away his wicket by playing needless shots. With his consistency he has proven himself to be a vital part of Pakistan cricket.
Mohammad Hafeez is the unsung hero of our cricket team. He is the real Boom Boom, a more consistent and dependable one.
This post originally appeared here.
Read more by Shariq here, or follow him on Twitter @shaq_najeeb.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/10906/mohammad-hafeez-the-real-boom-boom/

1137moiz · Apr 1, 2012

I like Mohammad Hafeez a lot and from the current bunch he's probably my favourite player along with Younus, Misbah, and Abdur Rehman. But the writer is a bit too hurt at the perceived lack of recognition. Hafeez is not the only player who Pakistanis have underrated, in fact Misbah is far more underappreciated. It's a common phenomenon when there's a popular player. Tauseef Ahmed and Iqbal Qasim were underrated because of Abdul Qadir's fine leg-spin. Aaqib Javed was underrated because his very respectable out-swingers were overshadowed by Akram and Waqar's genius, Mushtaq Ahmed's match-winning leg-breaks have never been duly acknowledged. Aamer Malik and Asif Mujtaba were underrated and largely in the shadow of genius batsmen like Anwar, Saleem Malik and Inzamam. Aamer Sohail and Ijaz Ahmed were never really given fair credit when both of them were much better than their successors. Afridi's appeal with the crowds and his explosiveness have overshadowed allrounders like Mohammad Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq. Misbah is barely acknowledged for his consistency. Because of Amir, Akhtar and Asif the new bowlers like Cheema, Gul, Rana and Riaz have hard acts to follow. The startling success of Inzamam, Yousuf and Younus meant that Misbah, Asim Kamal, ShoaibMalik, etc had a tough act to follow. Umar Akmal's flamboyance mean that Shafiq, Azhar and Fawad are kind of underrated. Etc etc. End of the day who cares how much star power the players have, it's not really a meaningful discussion.

And the writer btw is wrong about Hafeez with the bat, he is as susceptible to throwing his wicket away as Umar and Afridi. What I like is that he does seem to try and improve, plus hes very consistent with the ball MashaAllah

Winsome · Apr 1, 2012

I agree with writer, Hafeez is my favourite player. He is not only an alrounder but a unique and versatile player. When he outs someone he does not over joyed... His performance against India in Asia Cup is unmatchable... He is really a very consistent opener after Anwar and Sohail... He should be the next captain..

munirnadeem · Apr 1, 2012

I agree bud, i think he is the next in line for Captain.

Passionate Pakistani · Apr 1, 2012

What a poor article.

It could have been much better if he has concentrated/highlighted/Praised Hafeez rather than going after Afridi in an article which was supposed to be about Hafeez.

First of all, he needs to get his fact right.

1. Hafeez was not part of 2003 worldcup.

2. Once he was selected in 2003/4, he was part of the team for good year or so and was dropped ultimately because of his poor form, back then he was averaging 19 something.

3. Hafeez hasnt troubled all batsmen, he is v good at keeping things tidy but not a wicket taker. Just play safe and he won't trouble you at all, having said that imnt taking any credit away from Hafeez but the writer is bit high on saying that he troubled all the batsmen.

Now coming to the second part that Hafeez services are not recognised, then its complete BS. if i remember correctly Afridi and Misbah have praised and applauded Hafeez in almost every press conference. Not only captains and coaches but also ex-players have been full of praise for Hafeez.Now they can't write articles/blogs etc about Hafeez nor it is their job.
Iam sure there must be quite few articles written about Hafeez, i will try to fine some later once i reach home.

Another thing which i really find surprising is that why all these people are having a go at fans of other players, you can't force someone to like a particular player. Let them chose themselves rather than moaning about their choices and forcing them to like a particular player.

I will agree with moiz, if anyone who isnot appreciated or under appreciated for his achievement, its Misbah and not Hafeez.

Last but not the least, Afridi didn't call himself boom boom, he doesn't beg fans to like him or go mad for him, its not his fault and he has said it again and again and again that Hafeez is the best Allrounder in Pak team. And not go forget, it was Afridi who backed him during that England tour, after everyone was calling for Hafeez head because of his failure in t20s.

cricketstar2 · Apr 1, 2012

You cant say he is a boom boom because he does not realy smash the ball alot . My opinion is that he should be captain because he has a brain, he can field well, bat well and bowl well.

1137moiz · Apr 2, 2012

Passionate Pakistani said: ↑

What a poor article.

It could have been much better if he has concentrated/highlighted/Praised Hafeez rather than going after Afridi in an article which was supposed to be about Hafeez.

First of all, he needs to get his fact right.

1. Hafeez was not part of 2003 worldcup.

2. Once he was selected in 2003/4, he was part of the team for good year or so and was dropped ultimately because of his poor form, back then he was averaging 19 something.

3. Hafeez hasnt troubled all batsmen, he is v good at keeping things tidy but not a wicket taker. Just play safe and he won't trouble you at all, having said that imnt taking any credit away from Hafeez but the writer is bit high on saying that he troubled all the batsmen.

Now coming to the second part that Hafeez services are not recognised, then its complete BS. if i remember correctly Afridi and Misbah have praised and applauded Hafeez in almost every press conference. Not only captains and coaches but also ex-players have been full of praise for Hafeez.Now they can't write articles/blogs etc about Hafeez nor it is their job.
Iam sure there must be quite few articles written about Hafeez, i will try to fine some later once i reach home.

Another thing which i really find surprising is that why all these people are having a go at fans of other players, you can't force someone to like a particular player. Let them chose themselves rather than moaning about their choices and forcing them to like a particular player.

I will agree with moiz, if anyone who isnot appreciated or under appreciated for his achievement, its Misbah and not Hafeez.

Last but not the least, Afridi didn't call himself boom boom, he doesn't beg fans to like him or go mad for him, its not his fault and he has said it again and again and again that Hafeez is the best Allrounder in Pak team. And not go forget, it was Afridi who backed him during that England tour, after everyone was calling for Hafeez head because of his failure in t20s.

I totally agree here. Look Afridi may like the attention and lose his head trying to please the fans with a six that instead goes straight up in the air, but apart from that I have no problems with him unless there's some dressing-room politics he's indulging in like many of his predecessors. Criticize him by all means but seriously some of the criticism, like the repeated stabs in this article, are just over the top. I don't like Afridi nearly as much as most people do, but I don't understand this hate either where every thing wrong under the sky is Afridi's fault. I do think Afridi's overrated but then who can control what the media/public etc etc like, it's hardly material unless he uses his hype to go against Misbah which I hugely doubt is the case.

If for nothing else, I do appreciate Afridi's captaincy in the desperate times of 2010-11. I thought the PCB had lost what few marbles they had when they appointed him but despite some tactical errors and an occasional slip of tongue (such as in the case of Mohammad Irfan, who should've been told off indoors and not in a press conference) he did a surprisingly fine job in tough circumstances with a depleted side against England, South Africa, New Zealand and then in the World Cup. In 2010 he was surprisingly consistent with the bat MashaAllah and in the World Cup he did brilliantly with the ball, even if some of it was against minnows. And publicly at least he did back Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Akhtar and even for a while Waqar Younis before that spat.

I really like Hafeez so it's hugely disappointing a writer who meant to compliment him did so by attacking another player.

Winsome · Apr 2, 2012

I think every body thinks that Afridi is better than Hafeez and Razzak. May be because every body has its own mind... I'm not against Afridi, i like him very much not for his batting but bowling... Razzak is better player due to his batting and satisfactory bowling but Hafeez is best all rounder.. Because his average is over 25 and bowling economy is under 4.15 what a splended economy....
I'm not fully agreed with passion that he is not effective against every batsman... He is dangerous for the left handeds and economicaly best against right handeds....

You are right passion that he is not a wicket taker.. Yeah and we don't need it... Because We've Afridi, Ajmal and Rehman for this purpose... We just need from Hafeez to stop the runs and put low run rate and he did it many times.... We can't compare him with any other player because Hafeez is a versatile and unique player.

Winsome · Apr 2, 2012

I think every body thinks that Afridi is better than Hafeez and Razzak. May be because every body has its own mind... I'm not against Afridi, i like him very much not for his batting but bowling... Razzak is better player due to his batting and satisfactory bowling but Hafeez is best all rounder.. Because his average is over 25 and bowling economy is under 4.15 what a splended economy....
I'm not fully agreed with passion that he is not effective against every batsman... He is dangerous for the left handeds and economicaly best against right handeds....

You are right passion that he is not a wicket taker.. Yeah and we don't need it... Because We've Afridi, Ajmal and Rehman for this purpose... We just need from Hafeez to stop the runs and put low run rate and he did it many times.... We can't compare him with any other player because Hafeez is a versatile and unique player.

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Mohammad Hafeez: The real Boom Boom

munirnadeem

1137moiz

Winsome

munirnadeem

Passionate Pakistani

cricketstar2

1137moiz

Winsome

Winsome

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