Saqlain calls for strategic vision in captaincy

KARACHI:

Former Pakistan cricket legend Saqlain Mushtaq has shared his thoughts on the ongoing debate surrounding Babar Azam’s white-ball captaincy.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Mushtaq’s insights shed light on the intricacies of leadership within the Pakistan cricket team and the need for a strategic vision in appointing and retaining captains.

“Many people are saying that he [Babar Azam] should quit captaincy and play as a regular player. But all these voices are coming from outside, from people who are watching and listening to things from the outside. These are comments from outsiders. We shouldn’t listen to the voices of those outside. The people inside, who are observing the situation from within, should see what’s really going on and decide who is capable of leading the team effectively,” Mushtaq said.

The former head coach highlighted the lack of a coherent vision in the appointment of captains, pointing out the short-term nature of recent decisions.

“If you have to appoint a captain, do you look at the short term, long term, or mid term? What are you considering when appointing a captain? We don’t seem to have a vision; we look at what’s going to happen tomorrow and appoint a captain, then change the team the next day, because the people making these decisions don’t even know if they’ll be around tomorrow, there’s no plan for the long term,” he said.

Using the example of Shaheen Afridi, Mushtaq illustrated the problems with short-term captaincy appointments.

“For example, Shaheen was appointed for the short term and he’s already out. Now Babar has come in for the short term, there’s been just one World Cup, and now he’ll be changed. Someone else will come, and then there’s the Champions Trophy, and after that, the T20 World Cup,” he said.

The 47-year-old stressed the importance of a unified approach and long-term planning in developing effective leadership within the team.

“If you want to create a leader, where does the philosophy of working together go? How will you work together? If you don’t have any plan, you’ll make anyone the captain.

“The more you keep chopping and changing, the more time you’ll have to give to experiments. And before experimenting, you have to create a complete strategy and look at the pros and cons of that experiment,” he said.

The spinning great further emphasized the need for a systematic approach to grooming potential captains, highlighting the absence of such a system in Pakistan cricket.

“Now imagine you remove Babar and Shaheen and bring in someone else. Who will evaluate them? Who will see that the captain, whoever it is, should be made for the next 2-3 years and how they will produce results for Pakistan?

“Unfortunately, there is no system here. A system has never been created, and there has never been any ambition to create one. We don’t have the ambition to say that we will groom 3-4 captains over the next 5 years from Under-19 to associations based on their performances,” lamented Saqlain.

“Their performances should be evaluated not just by watching matches or results, but by talking to them, listening to them, understanding their vision, and looking at their leadership qualities.

“By following this process, you will see which leader emerges. I don’t see any of these things here. If we keep appointing a third, fourth, and fifth captain in this manner, we will never create a top-class team, nor will we be recognized globally,” he concluded.