Former cricketer has urged the PCB to appoint Babar Azam as vice-captain
24 July, 2019
PHOTO: AFP
Former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Qadir has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to retain Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain for all three formats and appoint top-order Babar Azam as his deputy.
PCB to decide Sarfaraz's future: Imad
Qadir, who appeared in 67 Tests and 104 ODIs between 1977 and 1993, said that the captain must not be held responsible for Pakistan’s failure to reach the semi-finals of the 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup.
"Sarfraz is a match-winning captain and has shown his fighting spirit several times. I think he should continue leading in all the three formats," Qadir told APP.
However, the former leg-spin wizard was of the view that Babar should be appointed vice-captain of the national side.
"Sarfraz may take decision to retire after two to three years and till that time Babar will be able to handle the pressure of captaincy,” he said. "I believe Babar has to learn a lot before leading the national side. It is time for his grooming and that can be better done by making him Sarfaraz's deputy."
The 63-year-old was also of the view that PCB should appoint Mohsin Hasan Khan as the national team's batting coach.
"As a coach he was doing a great job. It was under his mentorship that Pakistan whitewashed England 3-0 in their Test series in 2012. It is regrettable that he was removed without any reason, which cost Pakistan dearly,” he said.
Qadir, who also captained the Pakistan cricket team in five Test matches during 1987-88, said there was no need to appoint any head coach and local coaches should be used for specialized coaching.
"I believe that if you have specialized batting, bowling and fielding coaches then there is no need to appoint a head over them,” he said. "We have several greats like Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Saeed Anwar, Younis Khan, Muhammad Yousaf, Sarfraz Nawaz and Shoaib Akhtar. They are best known for their skills and expertise. They are highly patriotic people, who can pass their skills to the current players with utmost dedication. I think they must be given the chance to serve in this capacity."
