Pressure builds on Pakistan team

Pakistan selectors' decision to delay naming the captain of their World Cup team has, it seems, plunged the team into yet another controversy.

Many of the players, including coach Waqar Younis, are upset over the decision and he made his sentiments public. His statement has irked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), which already has a gag order in place on players and officials going to the media since the spot-fixing scandal broke sometime back.

Younis, who is known for his no-nonsense approach and candid views, has worked hard to transform the team into a winning unit during the New Zealand tour. The board, in its eagerness to enforce their policies, immediately issued a notice to Younis over his statement.

Younis is keen not to divide the players into two camps — one supporting Shahid Afridi, the one-day captain and another for Misbah ul-Haq. Interestingly, Haq after leading Pakistan to a draw over South Africa (in the UAE) and a series win against New Zealand in Test matches has emerged as a strong contender for the post.

Great tour

Afridi supporters feel that Haq has been named vice-captain for the one-day series against New Zealand to unnecessarily put pressure on Afridi.

The impact of all this has resulted in Pakistan, which was having a great tour in New Zealand, losing the first one-day match by nine wickets in Wellington. Haq top-scored in the match with an elegant half century while Afridi fell for just 15 runs and didn't do much with the ball.

One of the reasons for not naming Afridi as the captain is his outspoken ways which has irritated the PCB many times. To add to Afridi's misery, he has also been struggling for form.

Another factor going Haq's way is his calm approach. He is easily the most articulate player in the team (he holds a Masters degree in Business Management) and the PCB believes that Haq can lift the sagging image of the team and should be able to handle the media pressure successfully.

Appoint Misbah as captain for World Cup: Salman Butt

KARACHI: Pakistan's tainted former skipper Salman Butt has called on the cricket board (PCB) to appoint senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq as captain for the World Cup to be held in the sub-continent next month. 

Butt, who along with pace bowlers Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Aamer, will have to wait till February 5th to learn his fate in the spot-fixing row, also described flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi as a "clueless" captain. 

"This is more or less the same team that plays in Tests and one-day matches. But when they played recently in the Tests they looked like a different side and when they are playing 50-overs cricket it appears as if they don't know what direction to take," Butt told the News One channel. 

"Misbah is the ideal man to lead Pakistan in the World Cup. He is a born captain and an ideal leader. The best part about him is that he is composed and leads by example," said Butt. 

Butt, who was suspended last September by the ICC while he was captain of the Test team in England, only added fuel to the ongoing debate over the World Cup captaincy with the PCB yet to announce the leader for the quadrennial event to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

With Pakistan whipped badly in the first ODI in New Zealand and Misbah standing out with a half century, the calls for him to be made captain are only growing louder day by day. 

"I think the present one-day team is stronger then the Test side. When you look at the few changes there are senior players coming into the ODI squad who have been playing international cricket for last 15 years. 

"But I think because of poor planning and weak captaincy the ODI side is struggling," the former skipper added. 

Referring to the defeat in the first ODI at Wellington, Butt put the blame on poor planning and weak leadership. 

"If you have a player (Afridi) who is clueless then how can he lead the team because even if he says something to the other players no one is listening to him," Butt said
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WAQAR YOUNIS WANTS SHAHID AFRIDI AS CAPTAIN

The role of a captain in cricket is the most important compared to any sport in the world. This is why captaining a side in cricket is not the easiest thing to do. Pakistan has named the World Cup squad which will kick-off from 19^th February, however, the name of the captain is still missing and this delay has raised many eyebrows.

Amongst many former players and cricket experts, who have criticized the move by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the head-coach of the Pakistani team Waqar Younis was also not pleased with the board’s decision.

Waqar, who is with the team in New Zealand stated that the delay will only create issues for the team and it will not help the team’s preparations for the World Cup. Waqar also backed Shahid Afridi to lead the team in the Mega Event as Afridi has been the captain of the team for almost 1 year.

PCB wasn’t pleased with the statement of Waqar and issued a show-cause notice to the Pakistan coach.

Sources close to the PCB have revealed that Waqar has been backing Afridi to lead the team as he was more comfortable with Afridi. However, PCB wanted to warn Afridi that he would only be appointed as the captain if he performs both as a player and captain of the team.

The ongoing ODI series between Pakistan and New Zealand was also considered as a test for Afridi as he hasn’t been able to deliver for his team. The flamboyant all-rounder has led the team in nine ODI and Twenty20 internationals since he was appointed captain in 2010.

However, he hasn’t been able to inspire his team as the team lost seven of those series and won just two Twenty20 series. Afridi also led the team in a Test match against Australia which ended as a defeat for his team.

Afridi retired from test cricket after that loss and Pakistan had a new test captain in Salman Butt. Although Butt led his team to a victory in his very first match as the captain, he was alleged for spot-fixing and has been suspended along with Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif since the series in Engalnd.

On the other hand, the test captain of Pakistan Misbah-ul-Haq has been in extraordinary form and has led the team well in the longest version of the game. He has led the team in four matches and didn’t lose a single match.

The team drew both the test matches against South Africa in UAE and went onto win the series against New Zealand by a 1-0 margin.

Misbah was appointed as the deputy to Afridi for the ODI series and he is also a likely candidate for the World Cup captaincy. He has been in great form in the test matches and carried his form in the ODIs as he scored a half century in the first ODI of the series.

PCB is expected to announce the captain for the mega event after the fourth ODI and the chairman of the cricket board Ijaz Butt has left for New Zealand to assess the performance of the players.

Butt will also have a meeting with Waqar over his statement on a sensitive issue as everyone was aware that it was completely up-to the board to announce the captain of the team.

All the other teams have announced their captains and the 15-member squad for the World Cup. Pakistan is the only team which is not sure of their leader for the mega event.

Although there are some performance issues with Afridi, but a change at this stage may not be a good move for the team. The team had a troublesome 2010 and will be looking to do well in the World Cup.

Waqar`s support for Afridi rubs PCB the wrong way

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been under constant pressure from national coach Waqar Younis to retain Shahid Afridi as captain for the World Cup, which is starting from Feb 19.

Sources told Dawn that after Waqar had expressed his dismay in a press statement over PCB’s decision of not announcing the captain along with the World Cup squad on Jan 18, the PCB, considering the statement untimely, sent an explanation notice to the coach over the statement.

The PCB had faced criticism from several quarters for not announcing the captain for the World Cup.

The sources further said that though Afridi was PCB’s first choice to lead in the World Cup, it was also considering Misbah-ul-Haq, who was delivering well as Test captain.

The upcoming six One-day International series against New Zealand, starting from Saturday, would also be a test for Afridi to prove his potential as captain and all-rounder.

The PCB has also appointed Misbah as his deputy for the series.

But Waqar, as the sources said, was more comfortable with Afridi and did not want to make any change at the time when the ICC mega event was less than a month away.

In 2010, Afridi’s performance as captain remained below par as he led the team in nine series of One-day and Twenty20 Internationals, losing seven and winning only two T20 series.

Misbah, on the other hand, led Pakistan in two Test series, each against South Africa, world No. 2 Test team, and New Zealand. While both the Tests against the Proteas ended in draw, Pakistan won the series 1-0 against the Black Caps, their first after almost four years.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt is also in New Zealand to watch the matches and it is likely the captain for the World Cup would be announced after the fourth ODI, the sources said.

The chairman will also meet Waqar to ask him why he issued the press statement on such an important issue.

The sources said the coach and all other members of the team management knew that it was the prerogative of the Board to decide the captain.

The sources said the PCB also believed that Waqar indirectly showed his support for Afridi by expressing his astonishment for not announcing the captain.

They further said the delay in appointing the captain for the World Cup was only a part of the strategy to warn Afridi to give his best and to lead from the front to retain the post. But Waqar might not have been taken into confidence in this regard, the sources concluded.

SHAHID AFRIDI AND DANIEL VETTORI UNDER PRESSURE TO WIN ONE-DAY SERIES

New Zealand and Pakistan will go head-to-head against each other in the first one-day international (ODI) of the six-match series on Saturday, 22 January.

The tour started with three Twenty20 matches and the result was positive for the home team. The Kiwis won the series 2-1 and ended 2010 with high hopes for the new year. However, things changed for the Kiwi team as Pakistan bounced back in the Test matches winning the two-match series 1-0. Both teams will now be looking forward to the ODI series, as it will be their final assignment ahead of the 2011 World Cup, which is scheduled to start from 19 February.

Shahid Afridi has returned to lead the team in the ODI series. Afridi returned to Pakistan after the disappointing Twenty20 series, and has been under a lot of pressure due to his performances as a player and the Pakistan captain.

The flamboyant Pakistani all-rounder was expected to lead his team in the World Cup, but Misbah-ul-Haq has impressed the selectors with his performances as the captain of the side, and the board hasn’t announced the captain for the mega event yet. However, Afridi was not worried about the captaincy, and has kept his focus on the ODI series against the Kiwis. Pakistan has a very well balanced ODI team and the players have the potential to upset any team in the world.

Apart from Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal will be a part of the team in the first match. The visitors have a very strong bowling line-up with Shoaib, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal and Afridi. There are also plenty of options for the team in the batting department. Mohammad Hafeez has done well in limited-overs cricket and Kamran will also be a key player for the team. The middle-order is also looking solid with the experience of Younis Khan and Misbah.

On the other hand, the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori will also be under a lot of pressure like Afridi. Vettori has already stepped-down as the Test captain, and intends to step-down in the limited-overs format after the World Cup. The Kiwi team will heavily rely on its all-rounders to perform against Pakistan. They have some quality all-round cricketers in their team like Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, James Franklin and Vettori.

The team will also be hoping that key batsmen like Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill perform well against Pakistan. New Zealand is not as strong as Pakistan in the bowling department. They don’t have a very good attack, and that is why they suffered some humiliating defeats in the subcontinent last year, when they lost every single ODI they played against India and Bangladesh.

The black-caps are also fast approaching their worst ever losing streak in ODI cricket. The team has lost 11 matches on the trot and hasn’t won a single match since August last year. Pakistan has the winning momentum with them and the team will be looking forward to take advantage of the pressure on New Zealand.