LAHORE: Pakistan cricket is not in good shape after a poor performance in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2024. According to sources, Chairman PCB Mohsin Naqvi had long sessions with people who have been in this field for decades, but we won’t see a different outcome as we have observed in the past.
Despite Mohsin Naqvi’s announcement of a major overhaul in Pakistan cricket after the team’s exit from the T20 World Cup, things remain the same, with big claims leading to no substantial changes. People expected Mohsin Naqvi himself to resign as Chairman of the Cricket Board, along with Wahab Riaz, but to date, this has not happened.
Regarding the captaincy, Pakistani cricket is divided into groups with no unity in the team, as mentioned by head coach Gary Kirsten. PCB is still awaiting the head coach’s report on the reasons for Pakistan’s poor performance in the World Cup.
Some cricket authorities suggest that PCB should appoint a young captain who is not currently in the race for the T20 team captaincy, and his appointment should be for a minimum of three years.
Here are some examples of appointing a young captain in the presence of senior players, which proved to be a successful formula in the future:
After the year 2000, when there was factionalism within the star-studded Indian cricket team featuring Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, and Mohammad Kaif, the Indian cricket board appointed the relatively unknown Mahendra Singh Dhoni as captain.
They made it clear that anyone who wanted to play had to play under Dhoni; otherwise, it was goodbye.
A similar situation occurred in South Africa, where Graeme Smith was made captain of a star-studded team to eliminate internal divisions.
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Given the current state of Pakistan cricket, instead of appointing a well-known name or favorite, a player who is not even in the running for captaincy should be chosen.
Then, everyone from Babar to Shaheen and from Rizwan to Shadab should be told that if they want to play, they must play under this new captain; if not, it’s goodbye.
This new captain could be anyone, for example, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Ahmad Shahzad, or someone picked from domestic cricket like Australia did with their former captain George Bailey. I believe this would be a risky but excellent decision for the revival of cricket.
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Fakhar Zaman: An experienced player who has been a key performer for Pakistan in T20s. His aggressive style and experience can be valuable in leading the team.
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Haris Rauf: A fast bowler with a lot of energy and aggression, Haris has emerged as a match-winner and could bring a fresh perspective to the captaincy role.
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Ahmed Shehzad: An experienced opener who has proven his batting skills in numerous world-class events. He has also been consistently performing well at the domestic level for a long time.