What changes I want to see for the better? Maybe it is not in conjunction with the rest, but I would still like to see Shoaib Malik as the deputy. And yes, I will catch flak for this as much as I can. When was the last time Pakistan played a test match (metaphorically speaking)? This year? I see a recent surge in Pakistan team and I see Shoaib Malik behind that. He has been leading the team with his bowling and batting both. .
you got to be kidding.. Malik has been pathetically uninspiring when it comes to bowling. It has been pretty obvious that the guy was reluctant to bowl against quality batting and in crunch situations. And then not letting new comers to bowl against sides like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to get some experience or exposure.
Several experts have criticized him for this so called strategy which I think should be called his insecurity. The guy clearly is not willing to give newcomers a chance to bat or bowl in matches most of the times whenever there has been an oppotunity and instead giving hinself more overs and sending himself up the order.
This is what Akram said about him:
"As a leader and as a player he has to be positive. In the beginning I thought he had the skills; now I have my doubts. Against Zimbabwe he bowled ten overs in almost every match, against Bangladesh he bowled a little less. But in big matches he is not bowling. Do you think nobody notices? People do. Most of all, players notice how the leader is doing. "
I am sure alot of people will come up with anti Akram statements about his own antics but just think what he is saying. He is right on the money here.
Even though he fails to take the team all the way past the finish line which is, in part, not entirely his fault. But without bringing in anyone else, I think Shoaib Malik has been doing a reasonably good work as a captain of the team, and we have seen it in this T20 and a little bit in the Asia Cup. He looked determined and team played well. .
Sorry DB but I don't think bragging about 12 consecutive wins against sides like Zimbabwe and BD and then doing a lap of honour in Lahore after beating Zimbabwe 5-0 is anything close to being a determined or inspirational captain. His only inspiring performance was probably his stint during T20 cup and that was it. Everything went downhill from there.
What message are we sending across if we made Misbah captain, really? Firstly, I don't understand why he is chosen as the vice-captain of the team, that makes little sense. If you have to take the bull by the horns, either make him captain or give someone else the responsibility of the vice-captain. But the sad part is, no one else fits the profile. Kamran Abbasi and rest are bringing up the names of Afridi as vice-captain, and why? The guy has been in and out of his mind. He performed brilliantly under Bob Woolmer but since then, his batting performance have declined. He rarely clicks which is besides the point. .
I guess PCB should have made Misbah the captain but I guess they wanted to test him more before giving him the opportunity.
I guess Afridi's role in an ODI side is mainly as a bolwer and that has been the case for the last many years when he matured as an intelligent ODI bowler. Another reason for his constant inclusion in the side is probably lack of a quality allrounder since Razzaq was out of the equation and Shoaib malik decided to change his role from an allrounder to a specialist batsman. Had Malik opted to become a reliable allrounder, PCB would have dropped Afridi long time ago from their ODI squad. As far as Test matches go, there is no slot there for Afridi or for Malik. I don't how people can consider him a specialist test batsman.
