Sack Malik as captain, says Yousuf
Monday, January 26, 2009
LAHORE: Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who is no longer eligible to play for the national team due to his Indian Cricket League (ICL) association, on Sunday called for the sacking of Shoaib Malik as the captain following his below-par leadership against Sri Lanka.
Yousuf held Malik responsible for Pakistan’s humiliating 234 runs defeat to Sri Lanka in the final One-day match in Lahore.
“Any team can win or lose matches but the spineless manner in which we lost the game was very disappointing. There was no sign of any proper planning or the captain being in control throughout the match,” Yousuf said.
Yousuf said unless the Cricket Board immediately changed the captain and brought in a more senior player to lead the team, Pakistan would suffer worse defeats against stronger opposition.
“We have just lost to Sri Lanka now but if they don’t change the captain we will face bigger defeats against teams like South Africa, Australia and India,” he said.
Yousuf has been involved in a war of words with Malik since he joined the ICL last November a move that took the Pakistan cricket community by surprise.
Yousuf said that even if he had been in the team it could have lost to Sri Lanka but he pointed out what was important was that a captain led by example.
“I don’t see that leadership quality anywhere in this series. They say Malik is in his prime batting form and yet he can’t get past 50 runs. When he is required to bat up the order he is late because he is in the wash room. He doesn’t bowl when the heat is on,” Yousuf claimed.
“We did well under captains like Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Inzamam because they were established players first and had the respect of everyone as individual performers which is so important,” he noted.
Sack Malik as captain, says Yousuf
its not about playing…its about leadership. and leadership is skill is zero in Umer Gul. he wont be different than shoaib malik.
