“The board shouldn’t have taken such a path of uncertainty over the captaincy row. Such a confusion over captainship — only days before the World Cup was not a prudent step. However, they have named the captain and now everyone should forget about the past and start supporting the captain and the team for the World Cup,” the former spin maestro, Abdul Qadir told PPI.
He said that the need of the time is that everyone should abandon criticising the team and blistering out all the negative aspects.
“Since World Cup is loitering at our head, everyone, though it be PCB think tank or former players, they should all start supporting the team and speak only that, which they sincerely believes could help Pakistan in their World Cup campaign,” said Qadir, who is also a former chief selector.
However, Qadir said that winning series against New Zealand, which has earlier lost series against Bangladesh and India, was not a big thing and the team should prepare itself for tougher opposition in the World Cup.
He said that Pakistan would need spinners in the Asian pitches during the World Cup, therefore Saeed Ajmal or Abdur Rehman should be featured in the sixth and final match of the series, in order to give them some exposure ahead of the World Cup.
“They have to feature Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman in the World Cup matches so I think they should feature them in the remaining last match of the series against New Zealand to give them some practice ahead of the World Cup,” Qadir said.
He further said that Pakistan has an effective opening combination in Ahmed Shahzad and Mohammad Hafeez, who both have scored centuries in the ongoing series against New Zealand.
“I think Kamran Akmal is a match winner, however, they should send him down the order at sixth or seventh place as he is capable of playing well when the ball is old. Moreover, Mohammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shahzad have been playing well,” he added.
