Pakistan One-day international captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 is expected to retain captaincy for the upcoming mega event after Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB),
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128, held meetings with the team management in New Zealand and also with the board’s Chief Operating Officer, Subhan Ahmed, in Lahore this Wednesday.
Media reports have revealed that it is highly likely that Afridi will lead the national team in the ICC World Cup due to start from 19
February and to be held jointly by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
According to sources, the chairman held a half an hour discussion with the board’s chief operating officer along with the comprehensive debate with the team’s
management in New Zealand this week.
“After getting all the feedback and suggestions, the PCB chief knows that it would be a risky move to change the ODI captain at this stage and it would be better
to continue with Afridi,” sources said.
Sources also asserted that though Ijaz and some other members of the board were having some issues with the skipper over his attitude and frequent violations
of the board’s instructions in recent months, but the overall response of the players and management favoured Afridi for the post.
The PCB has been criticized for its decision of delaying announcing the name of World Cup captain even after it had revealed the final squad of 15. The issue
has become a hot debate not only for the fans of the cricket but also by the ex-cricketers.
Recently a former cricket captain, Amir Sohail, gave an indication that http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972 will come forward as a strong competitor for the captaincy for the next
month’s mega event if ODI captain Afridi fails to lead his team to victory in the ongoing six-match series against New Zealand.
Earlier, the current coach of the Pakistan cricket team, Waqar Younis, also lauded Misbah’s performance in the Test cricket and the way he led his team to victory.
The veteran fast bowler also added that Misbah has done a marvelous job on and off the field and he deserved appreciation for the way he coped with the team’s issues and players.
Apart from the ex-cricketers, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 team manager, Intikhab Alam, also praised Misbah for his brilliant performance as a batsman as well as a captain.
Media reports also revealed that the senior players who performed in the match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 including fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul,
Kamran Akmal were favrouring Afridi and wanted him to lead the team in the next month’s tournament.
The chaos of captaincy is likely to end this week after PCB's deliberations in New Zealand. Sources also unveiled that Ijaz was facing pressure from the top
about the captaincy issue.
A close source of the PCB reported to the media that a number of major sponsors who have invested lot of money in the tournament in Pakistan have arranged their
campaigns assuming Afridi as captain in their commercials, and are curious about any change in the leadership.
“These companies are also lobbying within the government to ensure that the Pakistan board does not change Afridi as captain for the World Cup,” a source reported.
Tags: