There were very few bowlers in the 1970s and 1980s who could trouble the likes of legendary Indian cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev. That this bowlers was missing two fingers since his birth makes him even more special.
We are talking about little-known Pakistan fast bowler Azeem Hafeez, who had replaced injured Imran Khan in the national team and carried a massive workload in Test series in India and Australia – two of the toughest places for any bowler. Born in Jhelum area of Punjab in Pakistan, Hafeez played in 18 Tests in an 18-month period in the 1980s and claimed 63 wickets at an average of 34.98 with four five-wicket hauls.
His best of 6/46 came on a lifeless Lahore pitch against India in a Test match, this despite being born with two fingers missing in his right hand since birth. He made his debut was against India in 1983-84 and on the subsequent tour of Australia, he bowled marathon spells, taking 19 wickets with five-wicket hauls at Adelaide and Perth. He then took 22 wickets in the six consecutive Tests against the Kiwis.
Hafeez started playing cricket in the bylanes of Pakistan in 1977-78 and stayed in the same ‘mohalla’ as legendary Pakistan cricketers Hanif Mohammad and his brothers Mushtaq Mohammad and Sadiq Mohammad. He was thrust into Test cricket against India in 1983-84 series in spite of his limited first-class experience.
He bowled a whopping 116 overs in three Tests against India at Bangalore, Jalandhar and Nagpur to pick up 10 wickets. The wicket which made him a household name was that of legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar – bowled around his legs for 5 in the Jalandhar Test.
Happy Birthday to former Test cricketer Azeem Hafeez. The left-arm fast bowler played 18 Tests & 15 ODIs, taking a total of 7⃣8⃣ international wickets. pic.twitter.com/7Fo7YmlwCK
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 29, 2018
But his maiden Test wicket was former India captain and legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who had only recently led India to a win in the 1983 ODI World Cup. “My success on docile wickets was acknowledged by Indian Cricket magazine choosing me as Cricketer of the Year 1984. I also recall kite-flying during the rest day of Jalandhar Test and given a pair of batting gloves, tailor-made by a Sardarjee for my needs,” Hafeez was quoted as saying.
But being a left-arm pacer, Hafeez was unfortunate to be playing in the same era as Wasim Akram. As the legendary Pakistan all-rounder followed Hafeez into Test cricket soon after curtailed his Test career.
“I was aware of meteoric rise of Wasim (Akram) and return to full fitness of Imran (Khan), during the World Championship in Australia. In what was till that time the biggest limited-overs game played by Pakistan, we were beaten by India by eight-wicket margin in the final at Melbourne. We were all naturally disappointed and headed back home, eager to settle the score with our arch enemy.
“Little did I know this would turn out to be my last outing for Pakistan. Six months down the line Miandad would step down to make way for Imran to return to the helm. I was disappointed when the new captain, despite apparently in ‘favour’ of my inclusion, looked elsewhere. Even though invited for training camps and verbal assurances, I never returned to the national side. You may call it destiny,” Hafeez had said.
