Pakistan cricket team skipper Misbah ul Haq Wednesday said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should start grooming of youngsters to give them confidence as future leaders. Talking to reporters here at Gaddafi Stadium during summer camp organized by the PCB, Misbah said, "It is important for the PCB to decide who they want as captain. They should start grooming and giving them the confidence."
He said there are a lot of players who could be given the captaincy... like Azhar Ali and Umar Akmal. Both are doing captaincy in domestic cricket. He was of the view when they get some experience, they can safely be given the responsibility. He said, "I don't think there is any problem as we have players who can take over the responsibility. All the youngsters understand the game and are doing hard work and performing but you will take some time, one-two years. Both [Akmal and Azhar] have cricketing sense and that's what you need in the future."
It may be noted that Pakistan suffered a mini-captaincy crisis after Shahid Afridi abruptly quit Test cricket in 2010 in the middle of the England tour and his replacement Salman Butt, who was marked as a long-term prospect, was banned after the spot-fixing scandal.
Misbah took over the captaincy then and has since been leading the side in Tests and ODIs. Mohammad Hafeez was given the T20 captaincy in May 2012 after Misbah decided to step down. Hafeez was also vice-captain to Misbah in Tests and ODIs for the last two years but after Pakistan's poor performance in the World T20 in Bangladesh earlier this year Hafeez also quit from all posts.
When asked if he was facing any risk to his captaincy ahead of the World Cup, Misbah said he did not think about matters not in his control. "I have always said that captaincy is not in your hand, it's in the hand of the PCB," he said. "For me the important thing is to stay fit and give my best performance. My focus is on this, that how I have to perform according to my best ability and that's what I am trying. Rests of the things are not in your control and I don't even think about it," he said.
Regarding the ongoing month-long summer camp, Misbah said the camp would be beneficial in the long run. "You might not get an immediate result. However, each player knows it has enhanced endurance. Your base is on your fitness in any sport and when you are fit you have better performance in all the three departments. Especially in such heat when you push yourself you increase your endurance, your strength is improved and you get improved in all the departments," he said, adding: "The biggest motivation is your passion about this game. If you don't have passion then you just spend time and you don't enjoy. When you have passion you compete with others and you try to be the best. Not only me the youngsters have very good fitness and all the senior players have worked hard and tried to push themselves.
In future, if we continue to push, our fielding level will increase automatically. In batting and bowling when your fitness is good it automatically improves too." Misbah was one of the fittest senior players in the camp, which Misbah said should be organized at least once a year to keep a close watch on players´ fitness. "It is a good thing that central contracts are being attached with our fitness level, only then will we have professionalism," he said.
Misbah was also heartened by news that fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, sidelined for seven months by a hip fracture, was recovering well. "Irfan is an exceptional bowler, totally different from other bowlers in the world. Irfan's four, five overs could win you any match," he said.
Comments
Comments are closed.