But it is an open secret that Afridi has been punished for giving statements against the team management, particularly against coach Waqar Younis with whom he developed differences over the selection matters. Last December, during the tour of New Zealand, members of the team and the board were also upset with Afridi’s very public criticisms of the performances of the side in two Twenty20 losses. Afridi also irked the board by walking away from the Test captaincy on the tour to England, one Test after being appointed. And it seems that Ijaz had enough with Afridi’s penchant for clumsy public statements.
Misbah now becomes the fifth ODI captain under the near three-year tenure of Ijaz, there have also been six Test captains in that time. Afridi became Pakistan’s fourth ODI captain in less than two years after Shoaib Malik, Younus and Mohammad Yousuf when he led the team in the Asia Cup last year. Afridi had captained the team to the World Cup semifinals where they lost to India and recently also guided them to a 3-2 win over the West Indies in the ODI series in the Caribbean. Afridi once again ruffled feathers in the PCB and team when he returned from the Caribbean early this month and told the media that he was not happy with people interfering in his work. The PCB served a show cause notice on Afridi to explain his conduct as he had violated the players’ code of conduct with his statement on team affairs. In 34 ODIs, Afridi won 18 and lost 15 games, a stretch that included tough series against England and South Africa.
Ijaz made it clear Afridi had never been given any assurances regarding the captaincy. He pointed out that the present policy of the board was to appoint captain on a series-to-series basis. Afridi had struggled with bat and ball in the one-day series in the West Indies but has been leading the national team in limited overs cricket since early 2010 while Misbah has been Test captain since last year. The enigmatic all-rounder, who took 21 wickets in eight World Cup matches, managed only two against West Indies in five matches. He continued to struggle with his batting form and made only 28 runs with a poor average of 9.33 in five games in the Caribbean. On Monday, Afridi left for the United States for a private family visit and will rejoin the team in Ireland.
Former Test spinner and chief selector Iqbal Qasim lashed out at the decision. “Afridi has been punished for taking over the captaincy at a time when the situation was very bad, said Qasim, talking about the fallout from a series of alleged spot-fixing scandals. He has been punished for taking Pakistan to World Cup semis. This decision smacks of a one-man show in the PCB,” said Qasim, referring to Ijaz’s reign as chairman. Since taking over the reins of the PCB, Ijaz has plunged Pakistan cricket to its lowest ebb. The farce of the PCB chairman’s blatant lies, antics, controversial appointments and sackings are unprecedented and shows how the country’s richest organisation has been crippled by the rule of misfit ‘political appointee’, who needs medication to get going.
