FORMER Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq has accused the Pakistan Cricket Board of splitting the national team by not naming the captain of the World Cup squad. The PCB last week announced their 15-man squad for the tournament, which gets under way on February 19, but failed to nominate a leader – a move which has sparked speculation of a race for the role between Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq.
“By creating a captaincy crisis, the board has split the team into Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq groups,” Inzamam told Pakistan’s Urdu daily Jang.
Afridi is currently leading Pakistan in the six-match one-day series in New Zealand, while Misbah, who captained the side to a 1-0 Test series victory against the same opponents, remains Afridi’s deputy for the shorter format.
With Pakistan crashing to a massive nine-wicket defeat in the opening match of the one-day series on Saturday, Afridi is under pressure to deliver and win the confidence of the board.
The uncertainty over the captaincy has led to several former captains, including Wasim Akram and the present national coach Waqar Younis, criticising the board. Now Inzamam, who led the team in Pakistan’s last two World Cup campaigns, has offered similar sentiments.
Inzamam, a veteran of 120 Tests and 378 ODIs, also said he did not expect the team to fare any better than their predecessors did in 2003 and 2007, where they crashed out of the tournament in the group stages on both the occasions.
He added: “I don’t understand why such things happen only with Pakistan. The PCB has failed miserably in controlling the situation. If the team’s performance in the World Cup is not up to scratch, once again the players will be made scapegoats.”
Opposing any change of guard at this stage, the right-hand batsman, who was instrumental in Pakistan’s successful World Cup campaign in 1992, said: “If they want to try out Misbah, they should have given him more time. But any change at this stage would lead to disastrous consequences.
“The players are already divided into Misbah and Afridi groups. The present scenario reminds me of 2003 World Cup, when despite Waqar being the captain, suggestions were being made to bring back Wasim Akram.”