Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has dispelled all rumours about captaincy of Pakistan cricket team and said Misbahul Haq would remain skipper till World Cup 2015. "There is no pressure on Misbah and the controversy surrounding the stepping down of Misbahul Haq as captain of the ODI team was 'unfortunate," he said while talking to reporters here Tuesday.
-- Ajmal's bowling action is improving: PCB chief Khan said, "It seems that people thought Misbah was taken off ... I would like to tell you categorically that this is wrong." Misbah was made captain by the PCB, and the board recognises him as captain until the World Cup and there is no doubt and no hesitation in that," he said. To a question, Shaharyar said that Misbah voluntarily chose to step down and not play in the last ODI against Australia. "The reasons Misbah gave for stepping down were because he was worried that his batting form was bad. He was worried about his performance," he said.
It may be noted that Misbah withdrew himself from the third and final one-day international against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, after a poor runs of form and team's four straight defeats in the 50-over format, leaving a big question mark on his one-day future. He also managed just 67 runs in the 2-1 defeat in Sri Lanka and nought and 15 in two defeats against Australia in the current series. Regarding T20 skipper Shahid Afridi's recent statements, Khan said, "It is unfortunate that Afridi made some irresponsible statements." When asked as to whether Afridi had breached the PCB's code of conduct, Khan said the board has not yet decided on its future course of action in this regard. He added the PCB was evaluating if Afridi had violated the code of conduct.
About Ajmal's bowling action, he said it is improving and currently we are working on improving his action with former spin king Saqlain Mushtaq. "We are hopeful that his elbow flexion improves and decreases further. Everyone is helping Ajmal in this regard," Khan said, adding: "I know this must be a difficult task for Saeed, but when I met him, he said it had come down to 20 and he was adamant about improving his action further and bringing it down to 10." He said they are going to send Ajmal abroad for an informal test, and after that we will go to the ICC for a review of his action.
Regarding his recent tours, Shaharyar expressed satisfaction with his tours of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He said, "When I met Srinivasan (BCCI and ICC chief) in Dubai, he told me that if other teams tour Pakistan, he would be able to convince the Indian government and their players to come here too." He said that he wants keep the doors to Pakistan open for all teams, as well as strengthen the Asian block. He added that India has agreed to play against us but in a third country, most likely the UAE, due to the security situation in Pakistan.
He said, "It is important for us that teams tour and play in Pakistan. Our stadiums will be full, especially if it is a Pakistan vs India game," he said. According to ICC reports, Pak-India is the most important series in the world ... even more important than the Ashes," said Khan. ," he said, adding: "I told them that politics should not be brought into the realm of cricket."
Khan said he asked Bangladesh and India to keep politics and cricket separate stating Indian officials that the sole purpose of his visit is to talk about cricket alone. He further said Sri Lanka has offered to send their national team to Pakistan whereas associate countries Afghanistan and Ireland have offered to visit Pakistan as well. He said he also talked about Muhammad Amir in international Cricket Council's (ICC) session and ICC has informed about a few changes in the legislation that might give Amir some relaxation. On the other hand, former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf declared that Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq is still the best choice for captaincy.
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