Hafeez Deems Pakistan's Australian Trip A 'Nothing-To-Lose Opportunity'
Mohammad Hafeez (Twitter)
Mohammad Hafeez reckons Pakistan must approach the forthcoming three-Test trip to Australia with excitement and willingness to play a free and aggressive brand of cricket.
The new head coach and team director believes Pakistan's horrific 14-Test losing streak spanning since 1999 must not act as a burden on players' shoulders but a source of encouragement.
Hafeez never himself played a Test match in Australia. However, the veteran ex-allrounder realises the daunting nature of touring Down Under for red-ball cricket. Pakistan are approaching a practice match against Prime Minister's XI in Canberra and will start off the Test series in Perth on December 14 before moving to the much-celebrated Boxing Day and New Year's Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.
Not only the history, the present too is staked heavily against the Asian giants, who don't just have no past results to show for their efforts in Australia over the past three generations of players but also undergoing transition after the controversial captaincy fiasco and multiple players lacking experience.
Hafeez Encourages Pakistan To Play Aggressively Down Under
"When there is an excitement in your challenge, when there is a nothing-to-lose opportunity and a lot to gain, you're winning. As a team our goal is not what history says but what we can go out there and achieve."
"The mindset is very clear - this is a very exciting challenge ahead of us and, together, we can bring better results. I can't answer for past results, but from here on you will see inshallah better results for Pakistan," Hafeez added.
The Australian Tests are Pakistan's first assignment since a disastrous pre-semifinal exit from the ICC World Cup 2023 in India, which led modern-day giant Babar Azam to quit all-format captaincy. Since then, opening batter Shan Masood has been given the task to lead the red-ball side in a set-up undergoing wholesale changes in staff, selection and playing choices.
This will be Pakistan's second series of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle after defeating Sri Lanka 2-0 earlier in the year. The Asian giants will have to play seriously good cricket to ensure their hopes of making a maiden WTC final doesn't take a huge beating by the end of the trip.
 "Kashish Chadha")
