LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain and fast bowling legend Wasim Akram has said that Mohammad Hafeez should give up his off-spin bowling and only focus on his batting.
“I think Hafeez should give up bowling now and just concentrate on his batting. Work harder on his batting,” Akram said.
Hafeez, who was suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday after his bowling action was found above the 15-degree standard.
This is the third time that the Pakistan all-rounder, who is also an important middle order batsman, was reported for suspect action. Earlier in November 2014, Hafeez was reported and subsequently suspended for a suspect bowling action. Later in 2015, he was banned for 12 months after his action was found illegal twice in the space of a few months.
Wasim said that it was about time that Hafeez takes a final decision about whether he should just focus on his batting.
“I think Hafeez does not realise that he has been bowling a lot and when he bowls a lot he tends to get tired which is natural and that is when I think his elbow extension exceeds the 15 degrees extension allowed by the ICC,” Wasim said.
The former captain said there was no doubt that Pakistan required Hafeez’s all-round skills and he had served the national team well.
Wasim said Hafeez should now give up bowling and accept himself in the role of a batsman only.
“He is experienced and he just needs to work harder on his batting and it will be good for his career,” he added.
Hafeez on Thursday decided to skip going to play in the Bangladesh Premier League and work on his bowling action at the PCB’s biomechanics lab at the LUM’s university in Lahore.