http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s road to future
With cricket as close to religion in the subcontinent, when all else fails, captains and coaches are made the ultimate scapegoats after demonising them as the real problems for their respective team’s demise.
Pakistan, Indian, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 are no different from each other, being the coach and a captain of these countries is perhaps the toughest job in the world of cricket.
The recent casualty is http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 a couple of months back, saw his captaincy realm come to an end this month as he was conveniently replaced by all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez.
Hafeez, who has been opening for Pakistan for quite some time now, has proven to be an asset for the Men in Green both as a batsman and as a bowler.
With the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 around in the spin department, Hafeez has proved to be a vital backup and has always delivered for his team.
In the batting department, the batsmen is rated among the most formidable hitters of the ball and with him on the wicket, Pakistan are always banking on a big total.
However, the weight of carrying the rest of the team with him might prove just too much for the cricketer, who till the last few years was focussing on making a permanent place in the national squad.
Dubbed as “the professor” he is believed to have a deep insight on forming strategies before the game.
Nonetheless, his recent appointment will be a test of his mettle as working with the junior players will be easy, but rallying the seniors behind him just might be easier said than done.
Although seniors like Shahid Afridi and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088 have announced their unconditional support for the newly appointed skipper, time will tell if they really keep their word.
While Afridi led the national team during the International Cricket Council (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Waqar-Younis-Maitla-c96193.
Later the matter spilt out of hand and Afridi announced retirement from international cricket and clarified that he would not represent the home team till the time http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, the then head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was calling the shots.
With this debacle at hand, PCB was left with no option but to name Test captain, Misbah-ul-Haq as the skipper in all formats.
However, Misbah’s performance in the shortest version of the game has been anything but extraordinary, leading the board to find his replacement.
With Hafeez as the King of spades now, Pakistan are looking to roar into a new era, leaving behind them the fiasco of spot-fixing, which tarnished the reputation of the country’s cricket after losing three of their main players (http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Asif-c1993) to the charges.
The all-rounder has the potential to become one of the finest skippers for Pakistan, but he needs to use his pawns wisely in order to prevail.
If he manages to make full use of the key players in the Pakistani outfit, he just might be able to lead his side to their second ICC T20 World Cup title.
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