Former players slam PCB for sacking Sarfaraz as captain in all three formats

Agencies
October 21, 2019

Karachi, Oct 21: Pakistan's former stalwarts on Sunday lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for acting in haste in removing Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain in all three formats of the game.

Most of the former captains and players termed the removal of Sarfaraz on Friday as unjust. Not surprisingly the head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis were also targeted and blamed for engineering the ouster of Sarfaraz.

Sarfaraz has been replaced as Test captain by Azhar Ali while Babar Azam will take over in T20s. A decision on the one-day captaincy will be finalised in due course.

The wicketkeeper-batsman is also unlikely to be part of the touring Pakistan T20 or Test squad to Australia later this month.

Batting great Javed Miandad said since Sarfaraz had gained considerable experience as a captain in the last two years, he should have been given time to regain his form instead of just sacking him.

"Azhar's appointment as Test captain is okay but if the Board wanted to appoint Babar as white-ball captain, they should have first groomed him as I fear the burden of T20 captaincy will affect his batting," Miandad said.

Former Test batsman and ex-head coach and chief selector Mohsin Khan said, "He (Sarfaraz) took Pakistan to number one in T20 cricket and he is a fighter. This is a decision taken in haste and it could also affect the career of Babar."

Former captain Rashid Latif minced no words in stating that the Board had erred by making Babar captain of the T20 side.

"He is a selfish player and we have seen this in international cricket and now in the national T20 championship. Sarfaraz is not a selfish captain and sacrificed his position many times for the team. He did not deserve this treatment," he said.

Former skipper Moin Khan said he was shocked at the way the Board had treated Sarfaraz.

"He (Sarfaraz) has shown himself to be a fine captain and yes he was struggling a bit for form but when a senior player is under pressure you have to encourage and back him, not dump him like this," Moin said.

He noted that Misbah and Waqar had never been fond of Sarfaraz and with them in charge, this sacking was expected.

Former Test pacer Aaqib Javed also criticised the Board for taking a strange decision.

"I don't know from where these decisions are coming but they make no sense at all to me. Sarfaraz should have been relieved as Test captain but the Board should have given him some time as captain of white-ball cricket."

Another former captain Ramiz Raja, however, felt that the Board had taken a brave decision to appoint Babar Azam as T20 captain and said people defending Sarfaraz should accept his poor form in recent months as skipper.

"We were struggling in Test cricket, we did not reach semifinals of the World Cup. We lost to a Sri Lankan 'B' team in T20 cricket and his own form is on a decline. I think the Board acted properly by investing in a young player in the white-ball formats. If Babar develops into a good leader he can also become Test captain," he said.

Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said Sarfaraz only had himself to blame for his ouster.

"I have been saying for a while now that he needs to be a brave captain and player. He has not been physically fit and he lacked leadership qualities," Akhtar said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 31,2020

New Delhi, Mar 31: Australia batsman David Warner on Tuesday decided to shave off his head to show support towards all those people who are working relentlessly on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.

After shaving off his head, Warner also challenged his Australian team-mate Steve Smith and India skipper Virat Kohli to do the same.

Warner, shared a time-lapse video on Instagram, of him shaving his head, and captioned the post as: "Been nominated to shave my head in support of those working on the frontline #Covid-19 here is a time-lapse. I think my debut was the last time I recall I've done this. Like it or not".

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Australia's death toll stands at 19, as per the Sydney Morning Herald.

As of 8 am today, 4460 people across Australia have tested positive for COVID-19.

The World Health Organisation had termed coronavirus as a 'pandemic' on March 11.

Earlier in the day, Australia Test skipper Tim Paine also confirmed that the side's tour of Bangladesh is unlikely due to the virus spread.
"You don't have to be Einstein to realise (the Bangladesh tour) is probably unlikely to go ahead, particularly in June. Whether it's cancelled or pushed back, we're not quite sure at the moment," cricket.com.au quoted Paine as saying.

Currently, Australia has 296 points in the WTC from 10 matches, while India has 360 points from nine matches.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.