Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram showed a cautious approach to the PCB-Shahid Afridi raw by lashing out at the board as well as criticising the former captain for adopting the wrong way to speak out his grievances on Saturday.
Talking to journalists, Wasim said the Board should have given the proper reason for sacking Afridi as captain of the one-day team.
“Shahid was doing well as captain and had motivated the team well. He led the team to the World Cup semifinals and also won the one-day series in the West Indies,” Akram added.
“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 big decision and say they will give details later on,” he added. However, he admitted that he did not approve of the way Afridi took on the PCB in the media after being removed as a captain.
“I don’t agree with the way he went to the media with his grievances. He should have spoken to the board first. I don’t support the language he used in the media.
It only hurt the image of Pakistan cricket,” said Akram. He further said, “Wherever I go people keep on asking me what is wrong with Pakistan cricket and frankly speaking I have no answer to that.” Akram admitted that he was puzzled why a dispute arose between the captain and the coach.
“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 said.
Akram also felt that Waqar Younis needed to play supporting role in the team and be in the background instead of seeking more powers or authority in selection matters. “Cricket is designed for the captain.
Let him take the decisions.” Akram said the board needed to resolve the issue as soon as possible, because the longer the dispute with Afridi lingered on it would only hurt Pakistan cricket.
