Sources close to the Pakistan Cricket Board under the guarantee of anonymity disclosed to PakPassion.net that Shahid Afridi is currently not assured of leading Pakistan in the forthcoming World Cup.

 by Saj Sadiq

01 January 2011

Sources close to the Pakistan Cricket Board under the guarantee of anonymity disclosed to PakPassion.net that Shahid Afridi is currently not assured of leading Pakistan in the forthcoming World Cup.

Afridi's performance as captain has come under severe scrutiny of late, with former players such as Moin Khan and Wasim Akram criticising aspects of Afridi's leadership.

"Afridi's recent performances as captain have not impressed too many Board members and one of the biggest issues that is irking them is his public criticism of his team mates. Results have not been great, but the public criticism of team mates is not going down too well with the decision makers."

Afridi retired from test cricket last year after just one test match at Lords where Pakistan were defeated heavily by England, and closely fought one day series' defeats against England and South Africa have followed. However the team's performances in Twenty20 cricket under Afridi's leadership have declined since the World Cup in the Caribbean and the dead rubber victory over New Zealand was the first victory in the twenty over format, after a run of six consecutive defeats.

The source confirmed that Afridi's performance as captain in the upcoming six one day matches in New Zealand will determine whether he is appointed captain for the World Cup.

"The Board will look at Afridi's personal performance and also how well he leads the team, as well as how he conducts himself, before deciding on whether he (Afridi) will lead the team in the World Cup. I would be very surprised if the Board makes a decision regarding Afridi, before the six match series in New Zealand."

Whilst a change of captain ahead of the presitgious World Cup would be a surprising move, it's certainly not out of the question given Pakistan cricket's track record ahead of major tournaments. Preparations ahead of the World Cup are far from ideal, with the allegations against the spot fixing trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif virtually ruling them out of the World Cup, a lack of clarity also regarding Kamran Akmal's, Shoaib Malik's and Danish Kaneria's availability and now the uncertainty over the captaincy.

In addition to the discontent regarding Afridi's public criticism of team mates, the source added that there were strong differences of opinion between Afridi and some selectors regarding Fawad Alam and Shahzaib Hasan.

"There are some selectors who do not think Fawad Alam and Shahzaib Hasan should be in the one day and Twenty20 squads, but Afridi has a different opinion to them. There have been previous disagreements between the selectors and Afridi regarding the two players (Alam and Hasan) and the issue will rear it's head once again when the final squad for the World Cup is due to be selected."