Speculation grows over Pakistan captain

da realsbet： Pakistan will announce a captain for the World Twenty20 in the next coupleof days

Osman Samiuddin14-Mar-2010

Pakistan will announce a captain for the World Twenty20 in the next coupleof days, as speculation grows over the identity of the man in the wake ofmeetings the board chairman Ijaz Butt is said to have had with a number ofplayers.On Friday, the selection committee had taken the unusual step of naming a 15-mansquad for the defense of the world title without appointing a captain, and over the weekend Butt is reported to have met four candidates: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq and Salman Butt.The vacancy has arisen out of circumstance: Afridi was meant to bePakistan’s captain in the format but the ball-biting incident inPerth has seen question marks appear over his role. He was banned by theICC for two games and has also recently been fined heavily by the board.Though some in the hierarchy are keen to have him resume the role, thereis said to be opposition after the Perth incident.Shoaib Malik, who took over for two Twenty internationals in Afridi’s absence and has led the side in all three formats, including a run to the World Twenty20 finalin 2007, would’ve been in the running but he is now out of internationalcricket for at least a year following a PCB-imposed ban.That leaves few options in the current squad, increasing the chances of,in particular, Misbah and Razzaq, whose experience will help them. Butt issaid to have held one-on-one meetings with the candidates, though herefused to comment on them.”In the next few days we will name a captain for the World Twenty20 butbeyond that I will not say anything,” Butt told Cricinfo.There has been speculation over the board wanting to unify the leadershipfor all formats. Butt, however, seemed to play that down for now. “We areonly naming a captain for this format and tournament right now and nothingelse,” he said.Pakistan’s next Test and ODI assignment isn’t until this summer when theyhead to England to play six Tests against Australia and the hosts, as wellas a series of ODIs. Though they will be in no rush to name acaptain for the other formats, it will be a tricky decision given thattheir previous two Test and ODI captains, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf,are both banned for indefinite periods.Troubles with the leadership began last year when Malik was removed aftera series loss to Sri Lanka amid mounting unrest over his leadership. Sincethen, Younis has stepped down twice as captain, to be replaced by Yousuf,whose own place is now in doubt. Afridi took over as Twenty20 captain whenYounis – having led the side to the title in June 2009 – retired from the format.