England vs Pakistan 2019: Mohammad Hafeez To Miss T20I And 2 ODI Games
May 3, 2019 at 12:42 PM
After missing Shadab Khan and Shoaib Malik, Pakistan once again gets the major blow for the upcoming series against England. They lost the services of Mohammad Hafeez for an initial couple of ODI matches before missing out for the one-off a T20I game.
Hafeez who is part of Pakistan’s 15-member ICC Cricket World Cup squad is recovering from an injury sustained during the Pakistan Super League. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Director Media Samiul Hasan Burney informed Geo News that Hafeez could return to the national side during the third ODI against England in Bristol on May 14.
Mohammad Hafeez Will return for the 3rd ODI:
They also confirmed that Pakistan will test their other players during the course before the return of Mohammad Hafeez to the full fitness. The last three ODI games will be an audition for Hafeez to be in the playing XI when Pakistan starts their journey in the ICC World Cup 2019.
Recently, the head coach Mickey Arthur revealed that Hafeez will do an all-around duty for the team. Arthur is confident that the experienced campaigner will deliver the goods in the pressure-filled tournament that needs the experience of his game.
“Mohammad Hafeez will be available for us during the World Cup as an off-spinner too. We have faith in our team. All 15 of those players have the ability to win games. We have to bring all our capabilities to produce results in our favour.”
Well, it would be interesting to see whether Mohammad Hafeez will recover from the injury ahead of the 3rd ODI or not. Sarfraz Ahmed would love to have a look at Hafeez spin-bowling, which would be the deciding factor of the experienced campaigner place in the playing XI.
Ahead of the ICC World Cup 2019, Pakistan will play a T20I game against England before locking horns for 5 times in the ODI series. It will be followed by the warm-up games and then the first game in the showpiece event against Windies on May 31st in Nottingham.