Inzamam-ul-Haq backs Shahid Afridi as ODI captain

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has called for Shahid Afridi to lead the one-day side as well. Afridi was named Twenty20 captain after Younis Khan retired from the format after leading Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title in June and has continued to excel as a match-winning allrounder.

Afridi was instrumental in this summer's triumph, turning in Man-of-the-Match performances in both the semi-final and the final. "I think after becoming Twenty20 captain Shahid has shown that he has become more mature and responsible as a player also," Inzamam was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

The last five years have been the most productive of Afridi's career, where despite brief patches of indifference, he has established himself as a fixture in Pakistan's limited-overs set-up. His form has been particularly good this year, with impressive performances in the ODI series and Twenty20 against Australia in Dubai in May, his critical role in leading Pakistan to the World Twenty20 title, and now in the first ODI against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. Allied to his player-of-the-tournament contributions in the 2007 World Twenty20, another indicator of his suitability to this format, Afridi's ascension became inevitable.

"I think it would be a good choice because Afridi also gets along well with the other players of the team and has good communication skills and since he was given responsibility, he has been very effective in his individual performances as well," said Inzamam.

He also said that Younis' run of bad form represented a longer pattern of ODI indifference this year: "He is under pressure and unless the captain is contributing as a player it adds to the pressure on the other members of the team."

Inzamam also criticised Younis, the coach Intikhab Alam and chief selector Iqbal Qasim for Shoaib Malik for the first game against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. "It is a stupid thing they did because he is too experienced a player to be dropped or sacrificed for accommodating two regular openers," he said. "Malik's exclusion has spoilt the balance of the team and this will be obvious against stronger sides."

After the ongoing limited-overs series in the UAE, Pakistan will travel to New Zealand for three Tests after which they hop across the Tasman to play Australia.

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Inzamam asks PCB to devise policy

In the wake of recent controversies surrounding Pakistan cricket, Inzamam-ul-Haq advised the PCB to devise a clear cut policy.

Former Pakistan captain advised the PCB to devise a clear cut policy to avoid occurrence of such incidents in future.

Referring to Younus Khan's resignation and reports of rifts between some players, Inzamam said there should be a proper mechanism in place on how board deals with the captain and the players.

"There should be a policy that discourages people from taking emotional decisions or from unnecessary controversies being created. There should be a policy on how the board deals with the captain, players and management after every series," Inzamam said.

Inzamam, who played 120 tests and 388 one-day internationals before retiring from the game in 2007, said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had taken the correct decision by not accepting Younus Khan's resignation as captain.

"The PCB took a wise decision by not accepting it (resignation) but I think in future Younus must also realise that he shouldn't be taking such emotional decisions as it hurts the image of Pakistan cricket," he added.

Inzamam, the most capped player, said he is totally in favour of having a strong captain with authority but that's depend on how the captain uses his powers.
"Personally I feel that no captain can get positive results without having a good communication level with his players and team management.

"I would have played Misbah"

Inzamam who captained Pakistan from 2003 to 2007 with considerable success also advised Younus to have good and cordial relations with the players and the management.

Inzamam said the Pakistan team has the capability of beating New Zealand in all forms of the game in the coming series but the tour to Australia would be a litmus test for everyone.

He also hailed the decision to recall specialist openers, Salman Butt and Imran Farhat back into the team for the coming series against New Zealand.

"Salman has always been a good opener while Imran is making a comeback from the Indian Cricket League and is doing well at the domestic level. I have always believed you must have specialist openers in any form of the game," he said.

The former captain also showed his displeasure over the selectors decision to drop Misbah-ul-Haq for the New Zealand series, pointing out that he was an experienced and mature player who would be missed in the trying conditions of New Zealand.

"I would have played him because he has been playing consistently for the last two years and this was the time to make full use of his experience," he said.

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