Shahid Afridi vs. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Misbah-ul-Haq-c1972: Waqar Younis expresses regret over World Cup captaincy statement
The head coach of Pakistan Cricket, Waqar Younis has expressed regret over the statements he made about the captaincy issue last week which irked the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 Cricket Board (PCB).
Waqar, who captained the national team in the 2003 World Cup in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, came under fire by the PCB after he questioned their wisdom in not naming a captain for the upcoming World Cup in the subcontinent, jointly hosted by
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
According to PCB sources, the national coach has submitted a formal letter to the Board, expressing his regret for commenting on the delay of the announcement of the captain for the World Cup. “Waqar has expressed regrets over
his comments and conceded that he spoke on an issue, which is not in his domain as national team coach. He has also assured us he will be careful while giving statements in future," the source told newsmen.
Earlier this month, PCB announced the 15-member team for the World Cup, leaving out the name of the captain for the mega event. This generated many rumours in the media that the PCB was planning to sack Shahid Afridi as the ODI
skipper and put Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq in his place.
Younis, being the coach of the side, was not pleased at this delay and in a press conference after the conclusion of the Test series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754, when he was asked to comment about the issue, he didn’t hold back and criticised
the Board for not naming the ODI skipper for next month’s global cricketing extravaganza.
Waqar, in the press conference, said, “I am surprised that the board has delayed announcing the captain. I don't know the reasons for this but personally I think the captain should have been named with the team."
These statements didn’t go down well with the cricketing authorities in Pakistan and the Board immediately demanded an explanation from the former fast bowler.
PCB’s media manager http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Nadeem-Sarwar-c78422 confirmed that the Board had indeed asked the coach to give an explanation of his comments. “We have asked him to explain his statement over the captaincy," Sarwar told the media.
According to insiders, Waqar’s statements expressed an indirect support for the current ODI skipper Shahid Afridi. PCB felt that this was not the right time for the head coach to express his support towards a player who is under
threat of losing his job if he fails to improve his form.
According to reports, Waqar has privately conveyed to the Board not to remove Afridi because it would not serve anyone’s purpose.
"Waqar is backing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-Afridi-c2482 to be given the captaincy for the World Cup as he believes the experienced all-rounder can deliver the goods in the high pressure tournament," the source added.
The more time the PCB takes in naming the World Cup skipper, the more controversial the issue is going to become. It will be better for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ijaz-Butt-c64128 to finally put an end to all rumours and announce the name of the player who will
be leading the Pakistan team in the upcoming world tournament.
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