Abu Dhabi: At a time when Pakistan are going through political turmoil, their cricket captain Misbah-ul-Haq also finds himself in the eye of a storm.
Calls for his sacking have intensified from all quarters following his side’s poor performance in Sri Lanka, where they lost the One-Day International series.
Yet while many former Pakistan players have called for flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi to replace Misbah as captain for the World Cup next year, former Pakistan pacer and current UAE coach Aaqib Javed has come out in support of the beleaguered captain.
“Removing Misbah as captain will be the biggest mistake that Pakistan will be making ahead of the World Cup,” said Javed, who feels that there is very little time for Pakistan to look at a new captain with the World Cup lurking just around the corner.
“People are saying remove Misbah and get a young captain in. Is there any youngster who has shown any form to consider them for the captain’s post? [That]is what I want to ask,” added Javed.
“Failures happen with every batsman, and in Misbah’s case it has come after a span of three years. Look at India’s star batsman Virat Kohli; he was in awesome form and suddenly failed in England. Do you think India will remove him after this series? It will not happen and that’s what we have to understand here,” said Javed, who went on to add that Mishab’s record with the bat in itself was a testimony to the fact that he is a class act and should be given a run in till the World Cup.
“Misbah is the only player who has single-handedly held the team together and performed consistently. His average is above 60 and I see on television that people criticise him so much.
“I think they should look at his stats and that will remove their confusion. Misbah’s strike rate, average and runs per match if you compare, it will not be behind the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. So all this criticism has no logic,” said Javed.
“When it comes to batting, the performance of Afridi has been worse. How can you then give Afridi the preference over Misbah when he himself is not doing well. Until the time your youngsters are not ready, you have to continue with Misbah,” said Javed, adding, “India also faced this problem after their seniors left. In this England tour, none of the players had the temperament to play overseas. The same way Umar Kamal, Asad Shafiq, Ahmad Shehzad have not performed well for Pakistan to do any major changes at this stage.”
