Hafeez had played an active part in the selection of the 15-man squad that represented the country in the tournament and has accepted that they failed to deliver. PHOTO: APP/FILE
Hafeez has taken full responsibility for the failure of his team to reach the last four stage of the event for the first time. While many claim that he was forced to resign, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi, who conducted a three-hour post-mortem of the defeat in company of the head coach, Moin Khan, and Hafeez, contradicted their claims.
Keeping the conspiracy theories aside, Hafeez’s decision seems a brave one — not many Pakistan captains of the past have relinquished the opportunity of being captain of the national team in even more adverse circumstances. He played an active part in the selection of the 15-man squad that represented the country in the tournament and has accepted that they failed to deliver. He has also said that he was disappointed at his own performance in the event as well (55 runs in four innings and a solitary wicket).
The next few months are barren for Pakistan cricket; most of the leading players are expected to take part in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) that follows the Indian Premier League. Before the CPL, the players have two months free. The PCB is trying to organise a short series yet the PCB chief said that the Board was not in a hurry to announce a replacement for Hafeez. Sethi and Co. have to decide the future of the team management as well: the contracts of Moin, fielding coach Shoaib Mohammad and batting consultant Zaheer Abbas expired after the WorldT20. Hopefully the PCB will continue with the trio as sweeping changes in the management are not necessary and they deserve a proper run like their predecessors, Dav Whatmore and Julien Fountain, enjoyed.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2014.
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We need more brave decisions especially by our political leaders
Afridi shouldn't be appointed captain bc he is way past his prime and can't think or follow rules. They need to groove young talent which they failed to do... we have imran nazir, fawad alam and various other young deserving cricketers including Nasir Jamshid, Anwar ali and Hamad Azam who are match winners as junior but are being ignored time and time again.Don't need to rush bc we only have Hafeez, Misbah and Younus as the only cricketers who are capable of leading the team. We should keep moeen khan as a manage and hire professional coach who are capable in all departments including bowling and batting. We should Saqlain or Mushtaq as spin coaches and international coaches for batting, bowling, filed and team coaching bc we saw the unqualified coache 's results in Mirpur. Only Pakistani coaches qualified from Pakistan are Waqar and Mohsin in that order. We should not retain Zaheer, Akram or Shoib.
A brave decision by a good Captain. It was Just one match against West Indies that the team was Collapsed in batting and was out of the tournament..Even against India Team was Short in batting and balling..But Team should focus on Coming Series and matches and Get prepared for the World Cup next Year.
Why is Afridi always making public statements against the rules of the organization? Why is he offering his name out of the defeat and making personal best out of it? Pakistan should look in the future not in the past if things have to change.