The captain’s armband was up for grabs after Muhammad Hafeez relinquished the captaincy in the aftermath of the World Twenty20 disaster at Dhaka in April.
After Hafeez’s resignation, calls for a ‘long-term investment’ were made — meaning youngsters such as Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood and Fawad Alam emerged as possible replacements for the all-rounder.
Shehzad, who was a frontline candidate, delivered a fatal blow to his chances by indulging in a most needless exchange of views with Sri Lanka opener Tillakaratne Dilshan only days before the captaincy call.
Fawad was in consideration too, but was left out of the race due to his lack of expertise in the crash, bang and wallop format while Maqsood, despite his emergence as a late choice, missed out due to lack of leadership experience in the domestic circuit.
Hence, Afridi was the only choice for a board that wasn’t keen on taking a bold decision given the troubled recent past.
Unlike past appointments, the PCB has announced that Afridi will captain the team in the next World Twenty20 edition slated for India in 2016.
The decision endorses the management’s confidence in the mercurial Pathan’s abilities as a leader and more pertinently, it reflects their trust in his ability to maintain fitness for the rigours of international cricket for at least two more years.
But whether the trust is well-placed or not should become evident in a year or so. Afridi has been playing international cricket for 18 years, and his body has taken a serious beating over the duration. He remains useful on the field, but understandably has lost that razor-sharp agility as the years have passed on.
After becoming the most capped ODI player in Pakistan’s history, Afridi stated that he would like to concentrate on T20 cricket only after the 2015 World Cup; however, he has now emerged as a leading candidate to replace Misbahul Haq when he hangs his gloves; almost a foregone conclusion until next March, the month when the mega event ends.
Whether he accepts the ODI captaincy is not clear yet, but if he does, his fitness and commitment to the format must be weighed upon by both Afridi and the PCB.
On the other hand, the PCB must groom a youngster with Afridi by announcing an understudy (vice-captain) immediately.
Despite some merits, the decision to hand over the reins of the team once again to Afridi sums up the PCB’s lack of trust in the youngsters. However, one is not sure that the current crop has the necessary acumen to take on the challenge as proven by the Shehzad episode. Hence, Afridi has turned out to be the best makeshift arrangement.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 17th, 2014.
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