Pakistan's embarrassing 234-run defeat against Sri Lanka has sparked questions on the unity of the side under Shoaib Malik, an insecure captain in charge of an equally insecure team, writes Khalid Hussain in the News. He writes that several seniors, including Younis Khan and Umar Gul, feel they are on Malik's hit-list.
According to an insider, Malik has spent the best part of his first two-year tenure as captain trying to convince the PCB top brass and national selectors that the national team will be better off without the services of several senior players.
“Malik used to bring a list of five players, whom he wanted out of the Pakistan team. From day one, he was against Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Akhtar, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and even Umar Gul,” said the insider who was present at the meetings held between the selectors and the national team management during 2007 and 2008.
In the Nation, Nabeel Sabir says the scantiness of Malik's captaincy talent was exposed as he failed to attack when it was required in the middle overs and continued bowling the spinners when the faster bowlers should have been brought in. He also questions Shahid Afridi's presence, as he's barely contributed much of note with the bat of late.
It has to start with selection and harsh decisions have to be taken. Seniors with experience are an asset for any side and you can't just write them off on the basis of a few bad performances. The right way ahead is to have a good balance between youth and experience and learn from the mistakes and not keep on repeating them.
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