Should Pakistan continue with Hafeez for key match against New Zealand?

All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez’s below-par performances in the last three games have raised questions on his inclusion in the coming matches of the World Cup tournament.

As the decision to play Haris Sohail in place of Shoaib Malik has paid off, critics are now calling for the inclusion of power hitter Asif Ali in place of Hafeez.

This is true that Hafeez, up till now, has not been as per his potential. And to make matters worse, he has been more of a liability than an asset. His shot-selection in his last three innings has been poor. He got out on juicy full toss from a part-time bowler against Australia. Against India, he wasted his wicket while playing a half flick shot on the crucial moment of the game (It was the worst display of a flick shot).

In the last-game against South-Africa, he got out LBW while playing sweep on a delivery which should be dealt with a straight bat. He scored 20, 9, 46 in last 3 games respectively.

But despite all the previous baggage, I believe Hafeez hits the merit to be included in the playing-11 against New Zealand. In my humble opinion, Ali should be included in place of Imad Wasim to create a better team combination. 

Wasim was picked in a side as a specialist bowler in the last two games and to the surprise of many, he was not able to pick up a single wicket in those games. 

On the other hand, Pakistan went with four specialist bowlers against England and Australia. Hafeez and Malik completed the 10 over the quota of the fifth bowler in those two games where they managed to pick three wickets collectively.

Here the point is that if an extra addition of a bowler is not doing anything special then what is the point of going with Imad Wasim.

New Zealand does not play spin very well and keeping England and Australia games in mind, it seems the best combination that two spin all-rounders, Hafeez and Malik’s replacement Haris Sohail, could play the part of a fifth bowler.

Imad Wasim is a left-arm spinner, who could be a threat for right-handed batsmen but the team already has another left-arm spinner in the form of Sohail.

The other point of keeping Hafeez in the side against New Zealand is that he is an off-spinner and he could be a threat for New Zealand left-handed batsmen as they have four of them in their batting line-up.

Usually, left-handers easily neutralize leg-spinners and left-arm spinners and struggle against off-spinners whereas leg-spinners and left-arm spinners are considered as serious threats for the right-handers. 

This means that our spin venom could be neutralized by New Zealand left-handers in the absence of an off-spinner. Additionally, having Hafeez, Haris and Shadab in the team also tick all the boxes of available spin varieties of the Pakistani squad.

As far as his batting is concerned, he was in good touch in series before the tournament. He scored a match-winning 84 against England and he got the start against Australia where he scored 46 but unfortunately missed a full-toss and was caught on the edge of the boundary.

Obviously, if Hafeez fails to deliver tomorrow as well then the axe should fall on him as well after Malik. As they say, there's no such thing as a free lunch, there should be no such thing as a freeloader in the team.