LAHORE – Pakistan’s former Test cricketer Sikandar Bakht has shunned the idea of retaining Shahid Afridi as captain of the team for the coming ODI series against New Zealand and the World Cup 2011.
His views on removing Afridi from captaincy came after Zaheer Abass, Aamir Sohail and Sarfraz Nawaz rejected the all-rounder in the role of a captain.
Sikander was quoted by German Radio Deutsche Welle Urdu Service as saying that Afridi has not been performing as a player and not fulfilling the duties of a captain.
“Since taking over as a captain of Pakistan’s ODI and T20 teams, Afridi’s performance has nose-dived,” he said.
“As a player he won the T20 World Cup for the country single-handedly a couple of years back in England but after that, captaincy has badly affected his individual performance and that is also creating problems for the team. Given that performance, he should not remain captain any more,” he asked.
Under Afridi Pakistan has lost eight of the nine ODIs and T20 Series including World T20, Asia Cup and most recent against England, South Africa and New Zealand.
Afridi, who plays for Pakistan more as a bowling all-rounder, has only managed 19 wickets at an average of 45 in the last 18 one-day internationals while his recent T20 record is even more below par as he has taken only 16 wickets in as many games.
Sinkandar said: “Misbahul Haq has set an example. He can be a good choice for the World Cup as well,” he added.
“He is handling the pressure in Test cricket extremely well and can handle the World Cup pressure as well,” he added.
Misbah with his performance brought victory for Pakistan in the opening Test match against New Zealand.
Sinkandar said: “It was a great performance. Some people may consider Kiwis a weak team but beating them in their own backyard is never an easy task. Pakistan played great cricket and won the Test at a time when the spot-fixing hearing is underway against Pakistan’s three top cricketers in Doha.”
“The team has proved that Pakistan has the depth in talent but it is not being used properly. Abdul Rehamn got the opportunity and became the man of the match while Tanvir Ahmad also proved his worth that’s why I always advocate for rotation policy in selection. Our selectors should consider only performance rather than age factor as was the case of Tanvir Ahmad,” he added.
Sinkandar, who played 26 Test and 27 ODIs for Pakistan in the 70s and 80s, said that now pressure will be on the host and Pakistan should win the match to grab the series.
