Former skipper of Pakistan, Wasim Akram, has expressed his disappointment over the way the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) handled the situation between Waqar Younis and Shahid Afridi.
The 45-year old, left-arm pacer insisted that the PCB should have given a solid reason to sack Afridi because he was a successful captain and deposing him without any reason was just not an appropriate course of action by the cricket board.
“Shahid was doing well as captain and had motivated the team well. So when a successful captain is removed, the Board should be sensible enough to give the reasons for the decision. They can't just take such a bigdecision and say they will give details later on", said Akram, who led Pakistan to the ICC World Cup 1999 final.
While showing full support for Afridi, Akram, admitted that that he did not favour the way the all-rounder lashed out against the PCB in the media after his sacking as the captain of the One Day International (ODI) team.
Akram suggested that instead of speaking out on the media, the 31-year old Afridi, should have held a meeting with the officials of the board to resolve all outstanding issues.
The Sultan of Swing insisted that the all-rounder still had years of cricket left in him and should be utilized by the PCB instead of being sidelined.
Akram revealed that the incident had marked another dent in the reputation of Pakistan cricket in the eyes of the world, and there is a growing concern in the world of cricket that there is something seriously wrong with the sport in Pakistan.
He predicted that the current situation was another case of a power struggle where the coach wants more powers than the skipper of the team. Speaking to newsmen, he said, “It is only in Pakistan that a coach wants more authority. In other countries it is the captain who calls the shots and the coach is there to support him. Many people didn't know Gary Kirsten was India's coach in the World Cup".
He insisted that matter should be resolved by the PCB as soon as possible to stabilize the already unstable national team.
