Shaharyar confident Hafeez will bowl in World Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan’s cricket chief Shaharyar Khan confirmed on Saturday that all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez will undergo an official biomechanics test in Brisbane ahead of the country’s high-octane World Cup clash against India next month.
Shaharyar, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, told ‘The News’ in an exclusive interview that Hafeez will take the bowling test in Brisbane sometime late in January.
“We have decided to send Hafeez for a test because there is this general belief that he will clear it this time and will be allowed to bowl in the World Cup. If that happens it will be great news for our team,” Shaharyar said.
He said that the Board is writing to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for official reassessment of Hafeez’s bowling action.
The biggest reason why the PCB is confident that Hafeez will succeed where he failed previously during a biomechanics test in Chennai earlier this month is because the player has assured the Board that he has brought his elbow flex down to legal limits.
“Hafeez has told us that he failed the previous test because of a marginal problem in his bowling action,” the PCB chief said. “He has also assured us that after a series of drills he has curbed that flaw and now his remodeled action is perfectly legal and that he is confident of clearing the test this time,” he added.
When asked whether PCB’s experts are also backing Hafeez, Shaharyar said: “Yes, they too have a similar opinion about it. Our experts and the Illegal Bowling Action Committee of the Board are backing Hafeez.”
Shaharyar said that once the PCB receives an ICC go-ahead, Hafeez will be sent to Brisbane just before the two-match One-day International series against New Zealand. The two games will be played in Wellington (January 31) and Napier (February 3).
“Hafeez has been a key player for us in limited-overs cricket mainly because he contributes substantially as a bowler. Though we have selected him as a specialist opener we want to make sure that he is allowed to bowl in the World Cup because that is really important for the overall balance of our team.”
Hafeez, 34, failed an unofficial test on his remodeled bowling action in Chennai where he bowled 11 deliveries out of which the flex in six deliveries was above the legal limit of 15-degree. The average flex in the deliveries bowled by Hafeez over the wicket was 16 degrees. Of the five deliveries bowled round the wicket by him, two had 17 and 19 degrees of flex respectively.
Pakistan see Hafeez as a vital cog in their limited-overs team primarily because he can more than supplement his batting skills by providing them with a tried-and-tested off spin option.
Hafeez has accumulated 4456 runs at an average of 30.94 from 153 One-day International appearances but it’s because of his haul of 122 wickets at an economy rate of just over four that he is considered to be a key member in the Pakistani squad.
He was initially reported for a suspect action while playing for Lahore Lions in the Champions League T20, but that sanction did not apply to international cricket. He was reported again in November, during the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi.
Hafeez is part of the 15-man Pakistan squad that will play two pre-World Cup warm-up games in Sydney against Bangladesh (February 9) and England (February 11) before beginning their title campaign with a potentially-explosive opening game against India on February 15.