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When Mohammad Hafeez came out to open the innings for Pakistan here at The Oval, he began a comeback to the highest form of cricket after a gap of almost three years.

“Coming back to play a Test after such a long time obviously put a lot of pressure on me,” said Hafeez who scored 95, the highest total by a Pakistani opener in this four-match Test series against England, to justify his inclusion in the Pakistani line-up.

Hafeez gave the credit for his emphatic comeback to the “useful tips” from his skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and the team’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf.

“Inzamam and Yousuf pointed to me my weak areas and also told me how to tackle the English bowlers. It really helped,” said Hafeez who was unable to find a place in the Pakistan Test squad after playing three matches in the home series against Bangladesh in 2003.

It was only an absence due to injury of Shoaib Malik and an awful run of form of Salman Butt that Hafeez earned a surprise recall for The Oval Test. “I told myself this was the one chance I had to avail and thank God I managed to do it,” he told.

Hafeez said during the time he stayed away from the international cricket, he studied his own weakness and tried to curb them.

“I realized that most of the time I was getting out while chasing the ball outside the off stump. In recent months I’ve been trying to avoid doing that and it has made a visible difference,” he revealed.

Hafeez, who retired early in his innings because of a knee problem before resuming on Friday, said that he still felt a bit of a pain while running but added that it was not serious. “I am confident that it would be okay with some help from our physio,” he told.

Source:The News

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