Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn has named Pakistani all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez as the batsman he would still love to bowl to today.
During a recent discussion with former teammate Vernon Philander, Steyn was asked which batter he would still love to bowl at today. He replied, “The obvious answer would probably be Mohammad Hafeez, who I got out like 16 times or something like that.”
Steyn heavily dominated the Pakistan all-rounder, dismissing him a staggering 15 times in international cricket.
Steyn retired as South Africa’s most successful Test bowler of all time. He played 93 Tests, taking 439 wickets at an average of 22.95, including 26 five wicket hauls. His best figures of 7 for 51 came against India in Nagpur in 2010.
Steyn held the top spot in the ICC’s Test bowler rankings for a record 263 weeks between 2008 and 2014 and remains the fastest bowler in history to reach 400 Test wickets, doing so in just 16,634 balls. He announced his retirement from Test cricket in August 2019 and retired from all forms of the game in August 2021. Across his career, he also picked up 196 ODI wickets in 125 matches and 64 T20I wickets in 47 matches, finishing among the greatest fast bowlers of his generation alongside the likes of James Anderson.
Hafeez, nicknamed “The Professor,” enjoyed an 18 year international career for Pakistan before retiring in January 2022.
He played 55 Tests, 218 ODIs and 119 T20Is, scoring 12,780 runs across formats and picking up 253 wickets with his off-spin. His Test career included 10 centuries and a highest score of 224 against Bangladesh in 2015, while he also won the ICC Champions Trophy with Pakistan in 2017, striking an unbeaten 57 in the final against India.
Hafeez captained Pakistan’s T20I side between 2012 and 2014 and led the team to the semi-final of the 2012 World T20.
He retired from Test cricket in December 2018 and bowed out of all international formats after Pakistan’s run to the T20 World Cup semi-final in 2021.
