Islamabad
Batting legend Javed Miandad has urged Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to seek help from former cricketers like Wasim Akram, Shoaib Muhammad and Sadiq Muhammad to end Pakistan team’s woes in the game.
“I think the Board has overburdened Misbah ul Haq by assigning him the dual responsibilities of head coach of all formats and chief selector. The board needs to be a bit realistic and think out of the box as the Twenty 20 Cricket World Cup as just around the corner,” he told APP.
Miandad also asked PCB to establish a variety of pitches at different stadiums around the country, to prepare players for the T20 World Cup.
“Pitches should provide equal opportunities to batters and bowlers and should allow all disciplines in the game to flourish,” he said.
Speaking about the upcoming series against Australia, Miandad said the only way to select players for the series should be merit and physical fitness.
Pakistan would play Australia in two Tests in Brisbane (November 21 to 25) and Adelaide (November 29 to December 3). Pakistan team was also scheduled to play three T20s against Australia (November 3, 5 and 8).
Miandad said before handing over the Twenty20 reins to Babar Azam, it would have been better if PCB had groomed the Lahore-born cricketer.
“Currently Babar was the No.1 ranked batsman in T20s. I fear his own performance may go down as the youngster lacked experience to lead the national side at such a higher level,” he said.
Babar has been named the T20 captain until next year’s ICC T20 World Cup in Australia while Azhar Ali was appointed the captain for Pakistan’s World Test Championship matches in the 2019-20 season.
“Sarfraz should have been continued as captain for the series against Australia next month while Babar should have been assigned as his deputy,” he said.
Miandad cited the example of former English captain Mike Brearley saying Brearley, who took over the captaincy in 1977, was not selected for the side until the age of 34 in 1976.
“His record in Test cricket as a batsman was modest (he averaged 22.88 in 66 Test innings, without a century), but he was an outstanding captain. He was also a fine slip catcher, usually at first slip,” Miandad said.
“Though Sarfraz’s performance had gone down as a batsman but he was an excellent wicketkeeper and the board should have given him some time to recover,” he said.—APP
