Living cricket legend and former Pakistan Captain Wasim Akram has supported the Pakistan Cricket Board’s decision to retain Shahid Afridi as the captain for the six-match One Day International series against New Zealand.
There were speculations that the selectors will not be naming Afridi as the captain after Pakistan’s dismal performance in the Twenty20 series that saw the men in green being defeated by the Black Caps 2-1.
There were calls by former Pakistani players and analysts stressing the need for a new captain. They showed support for Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq to lead the country in the ODI series as well as February’s World Cup. However, Akram rejected the calls and shared his contrasting viewpoint with the media.
“I feel that changing the captain so close to the World Cup will cause great damage to the national team and its chances in the tournament,” Akram said.
Mohsin Khan, the chief selector of the PCB announced the 16-man squad in the second week of January 2011 and said that Misbah will be returning as the vice-captain of the team. He also said that the squad for the New Zealand ODI series was formulated with “an eye on the World Cup.”
Akram backed PCB’s decision of picking the right combination for the six-match series but impressed upon Afridi to perform with the bat in order to lead the team from the front.
“Afridi needs to be consistent with his batting and needs to bring that leadership quality he possesses up to the front,” he advised.
However, Akram felt that the selectors have made a mistake in overlooking senior batsman Mohammad Yousaf from the 16-member squad.
“Yousaf is a very seasoned campaigner and I think, in the World Cup, when the pressure will be high, someone like Yousaf in the middle order will be needed to stabilise things,” Akram stated.
Chief selector Mohsin Khan said that it was Yousaf’s indifferent form in recent times which led to his axing. However, he remains a part of the 30-man preliminary squad for the ICC World Cup 2011.
The PCB will most likely announce their 15-man World Cup squad by 19 January, 2011.
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