Former Pakistan captain and one of the most celebrated cricketers of the modern generation, Wasim Akram, has flayed Pakistan Cricket Board and the national selection committee for not taking the input of team captain and coach in the selection of the team for the series against South Africa.Pakistan’s squad for the Test and ODI series was announced earlier this month and there was, as always, a hint of another controversy when the PCB declined to name the captain of either the ODI or the Test team at the time they announced the squad.
There was no press briefing either and the announcement was made without explaining the selections to the media, which is a norm all over the cricketing world.
The delay in naming the captain led to speculations that PCB was not keen on holding onto Shahid Afridi as the captain of the ODI and T20 team and was in fact searching for an alternate.
A day later they announced Afridi the captain for the limited overs part of the series, and named Misbah Ul Haq the skipper in the Test format of the game.
It effectively meant that both captains were not consulted in selection of the team, and a few days later it appeared in the media that the coach of the team, Wasim Akram’s former pace bowling partner, Waqar Younis was also not made a part of the decision making process.
Wasim feels that the entire process has turned into a joke and the PCB needs to rethink its policies if they are to seek an improvement in Pakistan’s rapidly declining performances in the international arena.
“It's a joke to select the team without consulting the coach and the captain”, Akram told a local newspaper. “The duo has to marshal the team in the series and tournaments and it is not the selection committee which will have to bring the best out of the players on the field”.
“If I was a chief selector, I would've definitely taken feedback from the coach and the captain before naming any squads. With the World Cup just a few months away, we're still mulling over captains while other teams have their formations ready for the event. This shows poor leadership qualities in the current PCB setup”.
The former Test captain also encountered trouble with the administration of PCB when he was the captain of the national team. Yet at times he succeeded in forcing his opinion and generally did wonders for Pakistan cricket.
Yet his critics feel that he should have delivered much more than he did considering the talent available at his disposal and his own leadership qualities.
Wasim Akram has been a strong supporter of Shahid Afridi but has raised his doubts about the appointment of Misbah Ul Haq as Test captain.
Wasim feels that the appointment is set to backfire as the middle order batsman is not a guaranteed selection in the Test team, and would struggle to hold onto his place hence he was anything but a good choice to lead Pakistan.
The series against South Africa is set to start on the 26th of this month. The opening match between the two teams is a T20 encounter at Abu Dhabi. The second T20 match would be played the next day, followed by the first ODI in Abu Dhabi on the 29th.
The second ODI would also be played at Abu Dhabi, the second game would be followed by the Dubai leg of the tour which includes the third, fourth and fifth ODI followed by the first Test match.
The tour would be rounded off with the second and final Test at Abu Dhabi
