Pakistan hopes hurt by captaincy confusion: Inzamam

KARACHI: Former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq says Pakistan’s World Cup chances have been hampered by the board’s delay in naming a skipper for the tournament.

“I fear the same fate as 2003 and 2007 for this team because just three weeks before the World Cup, the players don’t know who will lead them in such a big event,” Pakistan’s most-capped player told the Daily Jang newspaper on Monday.
“I blame the cricket board for creating this crisis,” he added. “By not announcing the captain it has created two groups in the team.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced their final World Cup squad but held back on naming a captain with all-rounder and one-day skipper Shahid Afridi vying for the role with test captain Misbah-ul-Haq.
“They are two groups in the team: the Shahid Afridi group and the Misbah group, and in these circumstances it is unnatural to expect this team to perform well,” Inzamam added.
The veteran of 120 tests and 388 one-dayers said the board would be committing suicide by changing the captain so close to the World Cup starting on Feb. 19 and co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
“There is already uncertainty in the team and this will only create more friction and problems,” he added.