Hafeez steps down as Pakistan skipper

ISLAMABAD: Mohammad Hafeez on Thursday stepped down as the captain of the national T20 team following the Greenshirts’ disastrous performance that saw Pakistan failing to reach the World Twenty20 semis for the first time.

Following a meeting with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi, Hafeez accepted his failure and tendered his resignation.“I hereby accept my responsibility for not being able to lead the team in the semi-finals of the World T20. I have decided to resign from the team’s captaincy but would be available as a player. I am with the PCB and ready to play under any captain,” he said, following the meeting in the company of coaching staff, including Moin Khan and Zaheer Abbas.

Hafeez rejected the impression that his resignation was the result of pressure exerted by the PCB. “It is my own decision.”Besides stepping down from the post of T20 captain, Hafeez also decided to resign from the ODI and Test vice-captaincy.

Moin Khan, who also accompanied Hafeez, said that his contract as chief coach was for only two events and he was not the coach anymore. Apart from Moin, Zaheer Abbas’s contract as the batting coach also expired with the end of World T20.