Mohammad Hafeez happy to be batting at number 3 in the T20s

Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan T20 captain, has revealed that he has decided to slip down the batting order to number 3, keeping in mind the future of the national team, although the cricketer from Sargodha still prefers to open the innings in all formats of the game.

The stylish right-handed batsman continued to open the innings throughout the ICC World T20 2012 in Sri Lanka, despite a lot of criticism from different ranks. However, the 32-year-old cricketer started to bat at number three during the recent tour of India, allowing Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad, two budding youngsters, to start the innings.

Quite ironically, Hafeez has started to perform much better since vacating the opening slot, having scored two fifties in as many matches against India and blasting the South African bowling attack in the only T20 played in the series. The right-hander smashed 86 runs off just 51 balls at Centurion, with the help of nine fours and four massive sixes. The all-rounder picked up three wickets as well to be named as the Player of the Match.

Hafeez revealed that allowing two young cricketers to open the innings is a decision taken in the long-term interest of the team, claiming that he is a complete team-man.

The Pakistan T20 skipper expressed, “I always prefer to come as an opener but this is the requirement of the team. We are looking to the future and Ahmed Shehzad has been doing well domestically and we wanted to give him a chance. I will do whatever I have to for the team.”

Having failed to deliver the goods in the Test series against Graeme Smith and company, Hafeez feels that Pakistan team was keen to make an impression in the T20s. the right-hander is now expecting positive results in the upcoming ODI series as well, which begins from March 10, 2013, at Bloemfontein.

“We really wanted to do something good in this format because of the ODIs coming up. We knew the importance of this game,” Hafeez added. “Tests require a different discipline but here everyone just played without fear.”

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Posted by Yasir Hashmi on Mar 5 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.