Mohammed Hafeez blames players' lack of focus for Pakistan's recent set of defeats- Reports

Pakistan team director Mohammed Hafeez has blamed players' lack of focus on their upcoming franchise assignments following the recent set of defeats away from home. The Men in Green suffered a whitewash in the three-match Test series against Australia and recorded a 1-4 defeat in the T20I series against New Zealand.

It has been far from an ideal start for Hafeez as well as the newly nominated captains Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi after Babar Azam's resignation as the all-format captain. Players have been reportedly left frustrated with Hafeez's tedious approach, and are not happy with the proceedings behind the scenes either.

Several Pakistani players were scheduled to play across different franchise T20 leagues after the culmination of their tour of Australia and New Zealand. The Men in Green recorded a slew of tame defeats in Shaheen Afridi's maiden assignment as T20I captain and narrowly avoided a whitewash with a consolation win in the series finale.

There was a severe lack of cohesion among the players as well, in addition to the newly laid out radical plans, including the decision to demote Babar Azam and promote Saim Ayub, backfiring severely.

According to a report by Geo TV, Hafeez met acting PCB Chairman Shah Khawar and spoke about the players' lack of focus in recent outings.

It is to be noted that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have been strict with issuing the No Objection Certificate (NOC) in the recent past. The players are only allowed to partake in two overseas leagues apart from the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Recently, the likes of Mohammad Haris and Fakhar Zaman were barred from partaking in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), while senior players Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi are currently involved in franchise T20 leagues.

PCB have not issued NOCs for players to partake in the SA20. As far as the ILT20 is considered, the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Azam Khan and Shadab Khan are involved. The BPL, on the other hand, features a total of 16 players from Pakistan, although not all are centrally contracted, and not all centrally contracted players received an NOC, as mentioned before.

As a result, many players are currently mulling walking out of their central contracts to participate in overseas T20 Leagues without any restriction.

Uncertainty looms over Mohammed Hafeez's future amid change in PCB's hierarchy

Mohammed Hafeez and Wahab Riaz were given the roles of team director and chief selector respectively following Pakistan's humiliating exit from the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The former skipper was in charge of the team for the tour of Australia and New Zealand, after Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn handed in their resignations.

Hafeez's stint with the team was reportedly only a short-term deal, with the deal seemingly coming to an following the T20I series defeat in New Zealand. It remains to be seen whether the newly appointed interim PCB Chairman Shah Khawar chooses to extend the former player's contract.

Should the former captain be given a longer run with the team despite the ominous set of results recently? Let us know what you think.