Pakistan’s former opener and Director National Cricket Academy Mudassar Nazar believes that Shahid Afridi should have resolved the issues with the coach instead of taking the issue to media. Musaddar showed great concern over the current situation of the Pakistan cricket all due to the relationship between Shahid Afridi and head coach Waqar Younis. He said: “This is not the first time Afridi has given such statements, which are contrary to his contractual obligations to the PCB. In addition there are issues about his relationship with Waqar Younis, although we don’t really know the full facts behind this dispute. Whatever the case, both problems can be sorted out.
Afridi should be reminded of his obligations, and as Waqar and Afridi both have played together for a long time, both just need to sit down, define boundaries and work as a team,” he was quoted by Pakpassion. Muddasar wasn’t overly concerned with the temporary appointment of Misbah as captain on the Irish tour but said the solution to captaincy on a long term basis was a simple – the only complication being the inner workings of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He stated: “On a temporary basis, Misbah as captain is fine, and after the Irish tour is over, who knows who will be in charge of Pakistan cricket! Or if [PCB Chairman] Mr. Butt changes his mind and decides to bring Afridi back again.
The best solution would be for Afridi to stay as captain. Misbah is doing well in the Tests, let him continue to lead in Test cricket. ” “I don’t think the time is right, the team is doing fine, look at their performances in New Zealand and at the World Cup. They are not the best team in the world, they are performing beyond expectations and are rebuilding. Afridi with all his experience should stay as captain in the one day format only, don’t pressurise him and bring him into Test cricket. Misbah will do fine as interim captain in Test cricket and could go on for a year, after that we will look at someone younger.”
He also felt that the current crisis wasn’t simply caused by issues within the team and that external media influences on this matter could also be blamed, stating that “I see this as a conspiracy, it always happens. Some of the media start targeting the coaches straight away, and they always start saying there are problems in the Pakistan camp, putting so much pressure on the PCB to take [unnecessary] action.” As the storm that has hit Pakistani cricket may thankfully be receding with Afridi taking a few days away from the game, the larger question of his future remains in the fore. “We’ve got someone who is coming along really well such as Hafeez, he only has to maintain his form.
If he can do that and start scoring runs in Test cricket, then he may well be the choice for the captaincy too,” he added. Given the current state of performances in the West Indian tour and lack of any solid contribution from Hafeez, the issue of captaincy is likely to remain open for a long time, with or without Afridi.
