Moin Khan, a former cricketer for Pakistan, has taken issue with the board’s decision to relieve Shaheen Shah Afridi of the white-ball captaincy, arguing that the board should not have made such a change.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Moin said, “Shaheen Afridi has the ability to lead the team and is well regarded among the teammates. He is a perfect fit as a captain in T20s. In white-ball cricket, I couldn’t see anyone fit for that position anymore as him. It was unjust to remove him from the Captaincy. He is one of the most dangerous players in T20s and I have seen his performance drop marginally since he was taken out from the T20 Captaincy.
Babar Azam was forced to resign from the captaincy following a miserable outing by the team in the One Day Asia Cup tournament. Moin pointed out that often chopping and changing of the captain may hamper the performance of the players, saying: “How can you expect results from the players, if you do not instil their confidence. they may be allowed to retain their duty captain for a bit quite great/better if in case there are modest changes in the performance. After the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which Pakistan performed abysmally, Babar Azam resigned from the captaincy. Then came Shaun Masood as Test captain while Shaheen Afridi, substituted Babar Azam as T20I captain. However, even before the T20 World Cup 2024, where India played, he was axed by Babar Azam following a home series defeat by 1-4 to New Zealand.
The regular change in leadership positions in the country has raised questions about whether there is a long-term strategy for the team in Pakistan. While Babar Azam remains an important factor, it has been suggested that other alternatives be considered including Mohammad Rizwan particularly after Pakistan’s losTest captaincy of Masood against Bangladesh at home.
Moin put forwards need of consistency in the leadership and management ‘A captain for all the formats is possible for which strategy has to be put in place wherein every player need to maintain his form throughout the formats ever to achieve that dream. Mohammad Rizwan would be a great short term captain but you would have to develop an aggressive batsman who hasn’t been procurable for quite a while now to be able to replace him in the future. We have this tendency to elect a captain and forget that there is always the need of a captain in waiting.’
The Pakistan Cricket Board is presently under pressure to put up a brave face while searching for effective leaders for the team in the future.
