Former Pakistani players have come down heavily on skipper Shahid Afridi after the team's embarrassing defeat in the first one-dayer against New Zealand in Wellington. The series holds significance as it precedes next month's World Cup in the sub-continent and, if sources are to be believed, a group of former players are not too keen on Afridi leading the side in the mega event.
Afridi's post-match comments on Shoaib Akhtar and the batsmen left some of the former players like Aamir Sohail, Abdul Qadir and Zaheer Abbas surprised.
"How can a captain demand of his players to perform when he himself is not performing well," Qadir, a former chief selector, said.
"Afridi himself got out to a totally irresponsible shot and, before criticising others, he needs to first assess his own performances. I don't think players would like his critical remarks after the match," he said. Aamir Sohail said the big defeat was a setback ahead of the World Cup.
"It is not the ideal preparation for such a major event and the team management needs to rethink its strategy and have a talk with the players," the former captain said.
Zaheer Abbas, however, felt it's still early days in the series and a comeback cannot be ruled out. "It is too premature to rule them out. There are five matches left and I think we have a strong one-
day side that can win the series," he said.
One of the most elegant batsmen of his time, Zaheer Abbas though agreed that the players, particularly
Afridi, needed to show more responsibility.
"They must learn to adapt and adjust to all conditions; a seaming pitch is no excuse for such a shambolic batting display against a weak bowling attack," he said.