LAHORE: While all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez hinted that the team management took a hasty decision in replacing him for the World Cup due to a calf injury which he said would’ve taken “two weeks to heal”, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) claimed there was “no specific period of recovery”.

Hafeez was replaced by Nasir Jamshed for the cricket extravaganza which starts from Saturday and speaking to reporters here on his return from Sydney on Thursday, he said his injury wasn’t as serious as first thought.

“I’d like to clear the nature of my injury as some people are calling it a knee injury or an ankle injury when it is in fact a pulled calf muscle which takes two weeks to recover,” he said.

“I sustained the injury during the second One-day International against New Zealand [in Napier on Feb 3] and three days later I went through a medical test in Sydney [the report of which came on Feb 8]. After it, the team management informed me that they have asked for my replacement.”

Hafeez, who once enjoyed the status of the best all-rounder in the world, had been struggling to cement his place in the Pakistan side exclusively as a batsman since his bowling action was declared illegal by the ICC.

The 34-year-old was due to appear for a bio-mechanics test in Brisbane on Feb 6 in an attempt to get his action cleared in time for the World Cup.

“I wanted to appear in the bio-mechanics test but a unanimous decision was taken by the management to avoid it because they feared I might not pass the test due to a calf injury.”

Meanwhile, Dawn learnt on authority that Pakistan physio Bradley Robinson, in his written report, had informed the PCB that the injury takes three weeks to heal and after that Hafeez could be considered for selection.

But he added that in some cases “the injury may take more than three weeks to heal completely”.

Hafeez said the team management must have taken the decision of replacing him “in the better interest of the team” while dispelling the notion there was any rift between him and the management.

He said he had worked hard for the World Cup was very sad at not being part of the event. “I’ve been performing well since making my ODI comeback [in September 2010] and even after being banned from bowling, I performed well with the bat.”

Hafeez added he was optimistic about his future and needed to maintain is fitness and performance levels while admitting that his bowling ban had affected the team’s bowling combination but backed the Pakistan team to do well at the World Cup.

“Pakistan won their last two warm-up games [against Bangladesh and England] and are in good form heading into the World Cup opener against India [on Sunday],” he said.

Published in Dawn February 13th , 2015

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