Ijaz Butt needs to cut http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 some slack
Pakistan ODI skipper Shahid Afridi is well known all over the world for his cricket ball clobbering ability but it seems like there is someone who knows how to clobber the mightiest hitter of the ball and it is none other than the Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) chairman, Ijaz Butt.
Afridi was put under pressure by Butt after the Board announced the 15-member World Cup squad without naming the captain for the mega event. This was a clear sign that Afridi’s place in the team as the skipper was at stake.
The whole world was taken aback by PCB’s move. This attracted criticism from many former Pakistan players, who suggested that the Board shouldn’t have challenged Afridi’s legitimacy as skipper at a time when the World Cup was just around the corner.
Apparently the Board was unhappy with the ODI skipper for giving statements to the media regarding the omission of senior players such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Yousuf-c77465 from the national team. The Board had advised the cricketer not to give any statements
without the consent of the PCB.
According to reports, Butt was also not impressed by the way Afridi had led his side in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. Pakistan lost the T20 and the ODI series in that tournament.
The man being sort as Afridi’s replacement is none other than the middle order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972. It is believed that the mild mannered batsman has succeeded in catching Butt’s eye after he led the team in Test series against South Africa which ended
in a draw even when the Proteas were the clear favourites. Then Misbah showed his supremacy by winning a two-match Test series against New Zealand by defeating the hosts in the first Test in Hamilton by 10 wickets. This was a pleasant change for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket,
considering the fact that Pakistan have been a very unimpressive outfit in the five-day format of the game and their past record in New Zealand hasn’t been superb either.
These accomplishments are said to have impressed some Board members including the chairman. However before things could get out of Afridi’s hands, luckily for him, there was a six-match ODI series yet to be played.
The series didn’t start the way Afridi would have wanted it to because the tourists lost the opening match which ended http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754’s streak of 10 ODI losses. After this defeat Afridi’s critics ran havoc and demanded his removal as skipper. Veterans like
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Syed-Zaheer-Abbas-Kirmani-c92392 suggested that the Board should appoint Misbah as the skipper without any delay.
However, the legendary former left-arm king of swing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 came out in support of Afridi and on numerous occasions advised the Board not to disrupt the team by replacing the captain just before the World Cup, which is all set to begin from the 19th
of this month. Wasim was of the opinion that a change in captaincy would encourage division among the players. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Moin-Khan-c77092 also extended support for Afridi.
Perhaps, Afridi by now realised that the only way to shun his critics was to give a commendable performance and that is exactly what he did in the 3rd outing at Christchurch after the second match at Queenstown was cancelled due to rain.
At Christchurch people saw a different Afridi. This was a man on a mission to seek redemption. It was obvious from the moment when Afridi came on the crease that he was in the mood for some ruthless pounding. Everyone knows that when Afridi gets going there
isn’t any balling attack in the world that can stop him. The Kiwis also found them in this awkward situation on Saturday.
The Pakistan skipper raced to 65 runs off just 25 balls before departing the field, leaving the New Zealanders in a state of bitter shock. Pakistan posted a massive total of 293 runs and then managed to bowl the hosts out on 250 runs. Pakistan won the match
by 43 runs.
However, one performance wasn’t good enough and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 who is in New Zealand decided to wait a little further before naming the captain of the national team for the World Cup.
Nevertheless, Pakistan won the fourth ODI at McLean Park, Napier, where the green shirts grabbed an unlikely victory by batting second and chasing a formidable total of 262 runs. Misbah was the hero of the match as he played an unbeatable knock of 93 runs.
Afridi took one wicket in the match. Nevertheless, it was Afridi who was the skipper in this fixture so he led the team to another victory. This victory helped Pakistan take the lead in the series 2-1.
Afridi has performed as a player and as a skipper well in the past two matches which should be more than enough to convince Ijaz Butt to cut him some slack. Perhaps, it is the right time for the PCB chairman to come out as a bigger man and retain Afridi
as the skipper for the 2011 World Cup.
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