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Defiant Hafeez vows to bowl on

Pakistan allrounder wants to submit himself for ICC scrutiny in bid to be reallowed to bowl in international cricket once ban is lifted

Mohammad Hafeez will seek the Pakistan Cricket Board's help in requesting the ICC to re-examine his besieged bowling action as soon as he's allowed to take the ball again next month.

The opening batsman, whose off-spin has captured 52 Test wickets, was banned from bowling in international cricket for a year after the ICC ruled he'd exceeded the 15-degree limit for a second time in two-years.

He was reported during last year's second Test victory over Sri Lanka in Galle, but rather than abandoning bowling Hafeez wants the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to approach the ICC to have his action reassessed once the ban is lifted.

He wasn't allowed to have his action analysed during the suspension but the 35-year-old – who'll be in England as a member of Pakistan's touring squad when he's given the green light to bowl in the second week of July – insisted he intends to bowl on.

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"I want to bowl as soon as possible," he told cricket.com.au from Lahore. "I was number one allrounder in the ICC Rankings and I want to achieve it again. Very soon you will see me bowling."

He can apply for his action to be analysed at either of the UK's two ICC accredited labs, one is in Cardiff and the other at Loughborough, but Hafeez is expected to bide his time before being scrutinised.

"I have not given up as an allrounder [and] I was working very hard on my bowling action," he said.

"But I could not practice in the last three months due to the knee injury. Now that I am recovering and reaching full fitness I will start practice again and increase the repetitions."

Hafeez tore a muscle in his right knee during the World T20 in March and hasn't played any cricket since then.

Before boarding the team's flight for England he lashed out at his country's media for accusing him of faking an injury during the World T20 by dismissing their commentary as a character assassination.

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"The media accused me of pretending injury which had a terrible effect on my social life," he said.

"The people in our media don't understand to what extent their irresponsible reporting can disturb our lives.

"I have kids who go to school … what if someone tells my kids, 'Your father faked an injury and did not want to serve the country'? What sort of impact it will have on my and my family's social life?

"If I was faking injury then why haven't I played for three months? All the scans and medical experts are also fake?"

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Hafeez shrugged off the notion he needs to bowl because he wouldn't survive in Test cricket if he was selected as a specialist batsman.

"People [have] put a question mark on my career, they thought I wouldn't find a place in team as a batsman," he said. "But my performance in the last year is in front of you.

"I know that my absence as a bowler has affected our bowling combination, that's why I am working hard to be back as an allrounder."

Since the bowling ban was enforced, Hafeez has played in three Tests scoring 380 runs at an average of 63.33 – the highlight of which was his man-of-the-match 151 against England at Sharjah.

Image Id: ~/media/1CB4CA2936FC49A1B7AB36852311BAB1 Image Caption: Hafeez celebrates his 151 against England in Sharjah // Getty

He's also played 12 ODIs for a return of 513 runs at 46.63, but the right-hander says he treasures his Test century against the English.

"I rate that innings in Sharjah as my career's best performance because it was done in a very challenging situation," he said. "It is the situation that makes your performance even bigger.

"The series was at stake … the series that we won 2-0 could have been drawn 1-1.

"England were bowling so well. Never before I had seen or played that much reverse swing that was on display in Sharjah, but we tackled the difficulties and won the match."

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Hafeez, who made his Test debut in 2003 but took until 2010 to cement his position, has played only one innings in England – way back in 2006 at The Oval – where he scored 95.

Despite that knock his career average in Tests outside of Asia is only 20.80, a long way behind his impressive 50.16 in Asia.

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While Azhar Ali and Younis Khan are the only other two members of the current squad to have played in England before, Hafeez was adamant Pakistan has the ability to score runs in any condition and, just as importantly, against any bowlers.

"The most important thing for me was fitness which I have regained," he said.

"It is going to be a very important tour of my career and I'm mentally prepared for it. I do not have any skills deficiency.

"Pakistan has a very strong team in Tests. We've produced excellent results in all conditions [recently]. I'm very confident our team will do well in England. We as a team have ability to win the series."