Sports

The captaincy circus, a premature reason for failure

At least now, when Pakistan does lose, the players can say they failed because the captaincy ruckus unsettled them.

Khurram Baig January 26, 2011

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should toss a coin, or put names inside a hat and pick one. It’s not like they will end up missing out on a great choice. You may hate me for this,but, right now, there is no right guy. Yes, I am talking about the World Cup captain of the Pakistan team.

Shahid Afridi has been leading the limited-overs side for a while now. But other than that, what are his credentials? He may have some, and I will give you that. He has the ability to turn a match around with either his bowling or his batting, and of late, apart from his ball-eating antics or his inability to decide if he wants to play Tests or not, Afridi has definitely matured. But his habit of throwing away his wicket to senseless shots is annoying and reeks of irresponsibility. The biggest thing going for him is that he is the best choice in the current line-up. And that’s really not saying a lot, is it?

And then we have Misbahul Haq.He is a guy who has made a career out of come-backs, then doing something phenomenal, and then fading away. At almost 37, I hope he is not dreaming of doing an Imran Khan on us and earning glory in the twilight of his career.

So, with these wonderful choices, why can’t the PCB make up its mind? Let’s just talk about the players who will be playing under this still-uknown captain. In a setup like Pakistan’s where everything is politicised, they need to know who they will eventually be pandering up to, in order to make sure that their place in the team is secure. So come on, give the poor guys a break and let them know who the boss is.

I mean, God forbid, if a player starts to chum up to Misbah and then suddenly Afridi is in the driving seat. And the same goes for the players who are supporting Afridi right now. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes if the tables are turned.

In the end, it is probably all for the good anyway. Are you telling me that there are people who believe that the choice of captain is going to improve our chances of winning the World Cup?

At least now, when Pakistan does lose, the players can say they failed because the captaincy ruckus unsettled them.

The writer is a content and style editor at the Express Tribune

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2011.

COMMENTS (15)

Pakistan Team | 13 years ago | Reply Thank you for your support and encouragement

Muhammad Ameen | 13 years ago | Reply I suggest that Afridi should must be captain for world cup because he is only a player in the team at the moment who can do this job better rather than other.

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riaz | 13 years ago | Reply reminds me of saying about brazil...brazil is the god gift to human kind then he put brazilians to ruin it...brazil is the next super power and will always will be ... it is the same w pakistan and afridi....someday he will mature and act like an adult with all the potential when will that happens perhaps when he retires...in the mean time board has to contend with his bad attitude, bad decisions, pedestrian bowling and horrendous batting...until he matures they neeed misbah or younus...probably misbah is best qualified because younus is unpredictable as well.

Ovais Raja mir | 13 years ago | Reply I thin younus khan iz the bst choice 4r world cup

Azam Mirza | 13 years ago | Reply Sir Khurram Baig i second u each and every world .. great article

The Dead Man | 13 years ago | Reply @Hiba - if Allah has already made his plans for us then why even bother going to India - the land of the infidel, to win the world cup. All we need to do is for our males to pray in the mosque and our females to pray in the secure environment of their homes and Allah will drop the world cup in our laps. No need to bother playing or decide who should be the captain.

Ata Choudhry | 13 years ago | Reply Misbah should be the captain......Afridi acts immature

Que | 13 years ago | Reply Good Article & love the analysis.... I just have four words: Afridi is the Man!!!

Imran Ahmad Khan | 13 years ago | Reply To the Express people: I want to contribute as a writer.....please tell me how I can do that:S!

Hiba | 13 years ago | Reply Why is everyone writing Pakistan off. Pakistan is the most talked about team for all the wrong reasons, why have they got less chances than current champions Australia who havent been so brillant themselves, even India's preformance wasnt talk of town recently and England lost 3 games in a row. In last 2 odi series we played good cricket, yes we lost the series but under the circumstances we didnt fair badly, thats the 1st thing i want to say, the next thing is if we do exit early from world cup then so be it,if thats what Allah has planned for us than we will except it, its only a game. Not players or captains fault if they have inhouse problems and no board to support them, or if board creates the problems. As for the captain its pathetic the name hasnt been given, but as for the rest of the players they should be happy to be in the team playing for their country and accept whatever decision made by pcb and not create Afridi camp and Misbah camp!

Fahad Khan | 13 years ago | Reply "At almost 37, I hope he is not dreaming of doing an Imran Khan on us and earning glory in the twilight of his career." what you mean by that Mr. Baig ?

malik | 13 years ago | Reply sub-continent pitches are suited hard hitter and aggressive batsman not those batsman who only know how to confirm his seat in the team i am talking about afridi and misbah. i think afridi is the best choice for captaincy because he made many records in sub-continent so he is a person who can bring another worldcup after imran khan. misbah is one of them who took oath against yunis khan which created captaincy issue in our team.so there is no place for hhim in team

Aamir | 13 years ago | Reply Only Afridi is down to earth and full of energy. We dont need dormant captains like Inzimam who made hell of last world cup. I must say that lobbying exists since Imran Khan days who stood against the then captain Javed Miandad and lead a revolt. The no cooperation attitude is simply equal to crime against your nation. Waqar Younis also faced no cooperation from a team which had stars lined up for world cup. You cannot expect any miracle from a team which has full of favoured players not producing any results in last few years. Leaving talented players behind and top performers of domestic circuit left in dark we should be ready for another collapse in the world cup. I must say that PCB is squarely responsible.

DJ | 13 years ago | Reply Yeah you are absolutely right. Thats the dilemma.

Mujtaba Abid | 13 years ago | Reply Afridi is the best option for captaincy in this world cup. he is experienced, he has the ability to turn the match around, and he is aggressive or we can say that he leads from the front ! we don't want defensive stance anymore !

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