Mohammad Hafeez retires from international cricket

Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has announced his retirement from international cricket. Hafeez, who retired from Test in 2018, was set to end his career post the 20-20 World Cup in 2020. However, the tournament was pushed to 2021 due to COVID-19 and Hafeez had to delay his retirement.

The former skipper served Pakistan for over two decades. He played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is while amassing 12,780 runs and taking 253 wickets across formats. Hafeez's final appearance for Pakistan came against Australia in the last edition of the 20-20 World Cup where Pakistan suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinal.

The 41-year-old had played every edition of the 20-20 World Cup, except the one Pakistan won in 2009. He captained the team in the 2012 and 2014 editions but failed to lead the team to their second title. Pakistan did make it to the semi-finals in the 2012 edition but exited from the group stage in the following edition.

A few fans believed that Hafeez may delay his retirement till the 2022 20-20 World Cup in Australia. However, neither PCB nor Hafeez was interested in playing another edition of the mega event. Hafeez though will continue playing the franchise tournaments. He will next be seen in the seventh edition of the Pakitan Super League where he will play for Lahore Qalandars. The tournament gets underway on January 27.

Overall, Hafeez led Pakistan in 29 T20Is, winning 18 and losing 11.