Ahmed Shehzad tipped to become Pakistan T20 skipper?
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KARACHI: Dashing young opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad is likely to be named as Pakistan’s next Twenty20 captain, according to sources close the cricket board.
Following Pakistan’s failure to reach the knockout stage of the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh earlier this month, which ultimately led to Mohammad Hafeez resigning as the national team skipper, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already started deliberating as to who would be the next captain.
According to sources, PCB chairman Najam Sethi is heavily backing the credentials of Ahmed, who has never led Pakistan in any format at the international level but is set to become one of the youngest cricketers at the age of 22 to be handed the reins of captaincy of the national side.
Moin Khan, the chief selector-cum-Pakistan team manager, has reportedly given his consent in favour of Ahmed with the formal announcement from the cricket board expected to be made in a day or two.
Hafeez, who also captained Pakistan at the World Twenty20 in 2012 when Sri Lanka hosted the event, shouldered responsibility for his country’s first-ever preliminary-round exit while announcing his resignation after a meeting with the PCB chief in Lahore a day after his arrival from Dhaka.
Veteran all-rounder and former captain Shahid Afridi was mentioned in some quarters as Hafeez’s successor as the next Pakistan T20 skipper, but his hard-hitting utterances at team’s lacklustre performance in Bangladesh upon his arrival in Karachi landed the 34-year-old in trouble when the PCB issued him a show-cause notice for the same.
With Misbah-ul-Haq’s position as the Pakistan captain - both in Test and One-day International formats - quite safe at the moment, the PCB is now mulling naming Ahmed as the T20 skipper.
However, the elevation of Ahmed — who made his Test debut during Pakistan’s last series against Sri Lanka in the UAE in December/January after having made his international debut in April 2009 — could be a risky proposition since he is prone to losing his cool.
Ahmed, who sadly has held a history of disciplinary issues since his international debut at the youth level, was fined 50 per cent of his match fee after his altercation with veteran Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan during the third game of the ODI series in Abu Dhabi last December.
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Comments (34) Closed
Apr 24, 2014 12:08pm
One Professor is out and now Professor 1/2 is In. Pakistan Cricket RIP !!
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Apr 24, 2014 12:36pm
What about Najam Sethi himself being the captain?
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Apr 24, 2014 01:05pm
There is no harm in inducting a youngster as Captain of Pakistan T-20 team but the problem with Ahmed Shahzad is that his utterances off the field have been childish and immature.
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Apr 24, 2014 01:11pm
@Rehan he is 1/20 not 1/2. after all this is 20:20
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Apr 24, 2014 01:56pm
One more stupid decision from the PCB. I don't know when will these people understand the game of cricket. He is not suited to be a captain at this young age. He is too short tempered and will ruin his career. Shahid Afridi was the best choice, but because the PCB has vested interests in Waqar Younus to be a coach, they are overlooking Afridi. Pak cricket can never develop as long as people like Sethi are at the helm of it.
Why doesn't Sethi himself become the coach and captain as well???
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Apr 24, 2014 02:04pm
Ahmed is good batsman,and fielder.
but he needs enough experience to lead the team,i believe LALA AFRIDI is good option for PCB.give him chance to lead in T20,& One day in the world cup,Misbah is reliable and good batsmen but not good captain.so i request to PCB officials. AFRIDI should be captain and Mohsin Khan sholud be Coach for national team.
Every pakistani wants to see LALA as Captain of Pak team,now is the critical time to make bold and best decision.if PCB want to every cricket team shld come in pak then they shld make good decisions in favor of team.
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Apr 24, 2014 02:42pm
I agree Mr. Sethi Should himself become caretaker captain for T20. Also another position is available for him to become "Caretaker Hamid Mir".
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Apr 24, 2014 03:50pm
Sir,
Similar decision was made in 1980s when a young Javed Miandad was made skipper of Pakistan cricket team and the young captain faced revolt from the senior citizens in the team at that time and later history repeated itself with Wasim Akram in his first stint as captain. In both cases the Pakistan cricket board did not support their young captain and sided with the rebellion players.
Now in 2014, what sort of plan the PCB has in mind if a 22 years old Ahmed Shahzad faced similar revolt from the senior members of the squad???.
Historically proven he will be changed again and will be taken over by a old fox like it happened with Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram previously!!!
Regards
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Apr 24, 2014 04:05pm
What else one can expect when a journalist is chairman of cricket team.....
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Apr 24, 2014 04:08pm
I request Moin Khan to include players like, Harris Sohail, Hasan Raza, Hammad Azam, Zafar Gohar, Kamran Ghulam, Sharjeel khan, Imam-ul-Haq and Sami Aslam in the Pak eleven. Players like Kamran Akmal, Malik, Gul, Hafeez, Misbah and Ab. Rehman should make way for youngsters and give them a chance. Till 2015 WC these players will be old and not up to international standards.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:32pm
Fawad Alam should have been made captain of T20. He is more mature and could be, in time able to take over other two formates too. Ahmad Shehzad has been sent home from tours and warned multiple times because of disciplinary problems and is still very immature for the role. Fawad Alam is also a better communicator.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:35pm
Appoint Misbah as T20 Captain. its good for the game and the players.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:37pm
One bad decision after another. What does Mr. Sethi wants to do here, is it an agenda to destroy Pakistan cricket? The biggest blunder is Moin being chief selector and manager. And now he wants to install Ahmad as T20 captain when every one knows that he is short tempered, bad at disciplin (sent home quite a few times) and immature.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:37pm
@karim raza Oh please , not every Pakistani wants the immaturish Afridi as captain.Spare us.
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Apr 24, 2014 04:48pm
I agree with Roger Evans, Shahzad should be made VC and Afridi should be made the captain. Everyone knows that only Afridi is able to lead Pakistan in T20s. There should be no doubt about that! If Pakistan was a stable side like any other country in the cricketing fraternity, i.e. Sri Lanka, I would push for Shahzad to be given a trial run at t20 captaincy. But, of course, that is not the case in Pakistan where even a single bad game has people ready to bring the guillotine out. Shahzad can learn a lot under Afridi. He seems energetic, smart, energetic and charismatic (somewhat). Hope he doesn't fall and destroy his career like the once promising Shoaib Malik (yes, he was very promising at one stage lol).
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Apr 24, 2014 05:04pm
Dashing young opening batsman !!!!... look at his record ;45 ODIs, Avg 34, Strike Rate 71. Is there anything brilliant in these numbers. These are far below average numbers by comparing with any other international opening batsmen but Pakistan Public is used to glorify such average talent and happy to boost on the "extraordinary talent" that never comes out !
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Apr 24, 2014 05:10pm
If this man has a disciplinary issue, he should be the last man to lead a national team. He should be booted out.
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Apr 24, 2014 06:05pm
Seems like a good decision to benefit the team in the long run but but but PCB please show confidence on him for little long (read years) !!
We all have seen how RSA experiment on Greame Smith paid off. That 'bold' move was criticized by everyone at that time but it gave rich dividends in the coming years and was the 'factor' behind RSA's successes.
Shahid Afridi is an explosive player but he is not gonna last for long so better to plan for future.
People argue Shehzad as 'immature' but has anyone noticed how he has transformed himself from just a ' ballistic T20' player to a more sensible 'Test' batsman and has shown 'adaptability' depending on the format of the game.
He sure has a long way to got lots to learn !!!!
All the best to Shehzad and 'Men in Green'
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Apr 24, 2014 06:18pm
I think this action of the PCB, by making Captain who does not know how to behave and play in the ground, will drop the spectators interest in the cricket.
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Apr 24, 2014 07:03pm
Finally, a good news for pak cricket fan. good job sethi and co..
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Apr 24, 2014 07:06pm
Another young talent will be ruined by PCB. They should give him some disciplinary lessons first. Pakistan Cricket on the verge of destruction!
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Apr 24, 2014 08:58pm
@shabbzz Excellent analysis!!!! Based on the available lot Shehzad is an perfect choice for the T20 captain.
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Apr 24, 2014 10:14pm
PCB must not destroy this young talent by making him captain at such an age. More than age, he needs to be more mature to be a captain. For now, he should be made vice captain and groomed by a calm captain. And please note that Afridi is not a good option to captain our side.
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Apr 24, 2014 10:46pm
It
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Apr 25, 2014 12:33am
i wonder why you pakistanis have a habit of complaining and criticising everything.it apparantly is a good decission and instead of backing him you are demoralizing him.you dont have a better c choice .
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Apr 25, 2014 03:48am
Clearly the people commenting in these posts have probably never actually played cricket themselves. The PCB is finally taking a right decision and getting a youngster involved in T20 Captaincy. Why Ahmed Shehzad? Because the guy has potential and has shown that in the past 1 year. Yes, he may be young and a bit hot headed. But, the best way you get someone to grow up is by taking responsibility. Look at what India is doing with Virat Kohli or what South Africa did with Graeme Smith. Or how about Stuard Broad being t20 captain for England?
People in Pakistan need to realize that T20 is the perfect way to blood younger cricketers. If you cannot throw them into a ODI or Test, you can throw them into T20 to see if they have what it takes to succeed at the International level. Giving Ahmed Shehzad the t20 captaincy is the best thing PCB can do for his career. Yes, he will make mistakes. But, he may turn in to a player that we are all hoping for. Someone who can lead from the front and eventually take over ODI and Test Captaincy if he does well.
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Apr 25, 2014 04:12am
This might prove to be yet another fatal move by PCB. It's wrong to appoint Ahmad Shahzad as the T20 skipper of green-shirts. He does not look like having the real traits and skills of a true captain.
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Apr 25, 2014 05:17am
Disciplinary action or not, it should not be held against this young man. Kohli is also undesciplined but he plays for his country just like Shahzad.
I believe there is no other better caption-material in the team than Ahmed Shahzad.
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Apr 25, 2014 08:31am
What is wrong with him losing his cool ?
All good captains were aggressive captains and would often lose their cool.
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Apr 25, 2014 09:41am
Pcb can try shehzad against team like Zimbabwe,Kenya,Nepal and teams like Bangladesh and neitherlands will be tough for him ,he cant score 50+ confidently against India,srilanka, no point of dreaming of his captaincy.
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Apr 25, 2014 10:28pm
This will be a very big mistake by PCB. Captaincy should go to most deserving and rightfully so to Shahid Afridi. If rest of the team does not play the game under his captaincy or show sign of fracture then it's PCB's fault. It is as plain and simple is that. Shahid afridi has fire under his belly and he has few more years left so why not do the right thing and make him the captain. Train him a provide him coaching of you think he does not two the PCB party line.
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Apr 26, 2014 02:40pm
@Najma
After the t20 cup when Afridi landed at the airport, he started promoting himself for the captain. You don
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Apr 26, 2014 04:36pm
Whatever was he performing, the pressure of captaincy would take away!!! Captaincy needs maturity!
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Apr 27, 2014 07:25pm
He certainly posses a batting flair not seen for a while in a Pakistan line up but goodness me he gives some of the most idiotic and incoherent answers when ever he has been interviewed on TV. Plus i think he comes across as somebody quite arrogant (but less than U Akmal) which is something we can do without
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