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 19th 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.
