FORMER Test captain Ian Chappell says the enigmatic Shahid Afridi is "a bit crazy" and should not be in charge of Pakistan's World Cup side, describing his batting brain-snap against Australia as "idiotic".
he Pakistanis limped home by four wickets against Australia on Sunday night but not before a moment of madness from Afridi, who came to the crease with his side teetering at 5-139 chasing 177.
With his side desperately craving a skipper's knock, Afridi made just two, recklessly swatting the fourth ball he faced from Jason Krejza to Brett Lee at long-on.
Man-of-the-match Umar Akmal (44no) showed a far cooler head, and Chappell said Afridi's display against Australia underlines why he should not be at the helm of the Pakistan one-day team.
"When you have a captain who is a bit crazy, crazy things happen," Chappell told Cricinfo.
"To me, he was never the right guy to be in charge and that's only part of the reason, but it's one of the reasons why with Pakistan you never know what's going to turn up.
"They are such a frenetic side, which they always will be while Afridi is captain.""I just don't think Afridi is the sort of guy you should put in charge of a cricket team because he is so frenetic, he does idiotic things like he did with holing out (against Australia).
For all his detractors, Afridi has been magnificent with the ball at this World Cup. He is the tournament's leading wicket-taker after the group phase, having claimed 17 in six matches at 11.47 with two five-wicket hauls.
A sheepish Afridi admitted his attempt to thump Krejza out of the R. Premadasa Stadium was rash in the extreme.
"Don’t ask," he said later, holding up his hands.
"That was an irresponsible shot as a captain at a stage like that.”
Chappell, however, also blasted Afridi for habitually raising his arms in triumph mid-pitch after taking a wicket.
"Everytime he gets a wicket, standing in the middle of the pitch with your arms raised ... that must be really irking to his teammates," he said.
"It's a team game, everybody is contributing, you don't want to see the captain seemingly taking the glory everytime he gets a wicket."
Despite Afridi putting his side in a precarious position against Australia, the skipper received the backing of Pakistan coach Waqar Younis.
"If that shot would’ve gone over the ropes you would’ve said what a shot," Waqar said.
"That’s the way he plays. He is a striker of the ball, he hits it big, when it comes out right, it's brilliant, but when it comes out wrong, it’s not right.
"That’s the way he plays. One can say maybe the situation was not exactly to hit that shot, but he backed himself and it didn’t come right."
