Mohammad Hafeez hints at abandoning Pakistan's national team

Mohammad Hafeez, Pakistan's veteran all-rounder, has decided not to go ahead with signing the newly-released central contract after he revealed his disgust at being demoted.

In the 33-member list of centrally contracted players released by the Pakistan Cricket Board earlier this week, Hafeez faced demotion from Category A to B. The decision was relayed by the Board's Central Contract Committee - before being approved by chairman Najam Sethi.

According to a report by the Express Tribune, the experienced campaigner will not be signing the contract and is instead exploring other options at present, which include potentially abandoning the national team altogether.

"Hafeez has decided to question the board why he was demoted to category B. If he doesn't get any satisfactory answer, then he is considering making himself unavailable in future for the team selection and will part ways with the national team without taking official retirement."

This is what a close source to the 37-year-old revealed to the Express Tribune. They further added, suggesting that Hafeez might be tempted to focus on looking at overseas options if he is not given a justifiable response from the PCB management on the matter.

"He will be talking to the board in the next two days. If their response isn't satisfactory, then Hafeez will prove selectors wrong by his performances on the pitch in the foreign leagues," said the source.

The all-rounder, who has represented his country on 333 occasions in international cricket, has struggled for form over the last 18 months. Last year, he was banned from bowling after being reported for an illegal bowling action and has recently made his return to the national side for the tri-nation series in Zimbabwe.

Hafeez didn't fare particularly well and after a couple of games, was unsurprisingly left out of the playing XI.

Consequently, he also missed out on all the matches during the five-ODI series against the hosts Zimbabwe. Now he finds himself currently in an unwanted, contract dilemma which could threaten his international career.

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