Pakistan 2 sep 2014: Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has backed calls for Misbah-ul-Haq to step down as the skipper of the ODI side after Pakistan’s luckless tour of Sri Lanka.
According to Latif, Pakistan were disastrously under-prepared for the World Cup which is now just four months away.
“To me it seems the time has come for Misbah to be changed. I get this feeling. Because there is no explanation for the way we performed in Sri Lanka,” Press Trust of India quoted Latif as saying.
The former wicket-keeper said that despite the presence of former greats like Waqar Younis and Moin Khan the team seemed directionless.
Pakistan lost the Test series against Sri Lanka 2-0 and lost the ODI round of the bout 2-1 on a tour which once again highlighted the team’s weak batting lineup.
According to another former captain and batting great, Javed Miandad, though, changing captain would not benefit Pakistan in any way and the batting woes along with other problems needed to be addressed at the grassroots level.
“In our days batsmen worked hard themselves on their game and there was consistency in performances. Changing Misbah-ul-Haq as captain will make no difference at all.”
According to sources, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is unlikely to take the drastic step of sacking Misbah even as the chorus to get rid of him gets louder. What team manager and chief selector Moin Khan says in his tour report will be important though.
“Unfortunately when a captain is out of form the team’s morale also goes down and that is what happened in Sri Lanka,” Khan said.
“But I am sure that an experienced player like Misbah will get back into form soon,” he added.