‘Imperative to have Afridi as captain’

Former Pakistan captains believe Shahid Afridi should lead the national side in the run-up to next year’s World Cup.

Pakistan‘s lost the ODI series 2-1 in Sri Lanka under Misbah-ul-Haq’s captaincy after losing the third and final match by seven wickets.

They also lost the preceding two-match Test series 2-0.

“If the captaincy remained with Misbah you can’t expect improvement in results,” said Mohammad Yousuf. “He has been the captain for four years and has not been able to find a proper combination.

“I think it is imperative we have Afridi as captain who is aggressive and can lead in a better way.”

Another former captain Rashid Latif said the ODI defeat would hurt Pakistan’s World Cup preparations.

“The PCB relied on old players for the last two years in their preparations for the World Cup and they simply don’t trust young players — and that’s why our (performance) graph is going down with every series,” he said.

Pressure

Latif said he feared Misbah, appointed captain until the World Cup, would come under pressure.

“I think Misbah’s future is in doubt. He didn’t perform in seven innings of the tour and his captaincy was defensive.”

Misbah managed just 67 in two Tests and as many runs in three ODIs.

Pakistan next play a T20 international, two Tests and three ODIs against Australia in the UAE in October, before taking on New Zealand in three Tests, five ODIs and two T20s.

“Maybe Afridi will replace Misbah as one-day captain,” said Latif, who thought four to five players may be changed for the next series.