Pakistan one-day captaincy will be loses by Shahid Afridi

The Pakistan Cricket Board has removed Shahid Afridi as one-day captain for the forthcoming series against Ireland.Senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq will lead the team in the matches against Ireland on 28 and 30 May in Belfast."Afridi has been retained as a player in the one-day squad but the captaincy has gone to Misbah," said the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt.

Afridi criticised Pakistan's team management after the team's recent one-day series in the West Indies.

Pakistan took a 3-2 win in the five-game series after reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup, where they were beaten by eventual winners India.

Butt did not elaborate on the reason for the decision to remove Afridi from the captaincy.PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar said that it is the "policy of the board to appoint a captain on a series to series basis".Afridi has been leading the T20 and ODI sides since early 2010.

Pakistan squad: Misbah Ul Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Taufique Umer, Muhammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Salman (wk), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umer Akmal, Umer Gul, Wahab Riaz, Tanvir Ahmed, Junaid Khan, Hammad Azam

Afridi accuses Indian media of negative campaig

Shahid Afridi stretches during a training session in Mohali.—AFP Dawn News Updates

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi accused the Indian media on Monday of conducting a negative campaign against his team before Wednesday’s eagerly anticipated World Cup semi-final in Mohali.

“There is so much negativity in the Indian media. There is nothing positive to watch on the channels and we are just sticking together as a team and it is just the hotel and ground for us,” Afridi told a Pakistani news channel.“The only answer we can give is with our performance. We will try to give 110 per cent in this big match.“Everyone knows how big a match this is and the pressures that come with it. But we will just do our best whatever the result. After the match we just want to be content in our hearts we gave our best.”

Afridi also said Pakistan were considering playing their controversial fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar.

“I also want him to play but we have not taken a final decision as yet. And we have to take into consideration his match fitness and his form which we will see in the nets,”Afridi said.“We want him in such a high-profile match but we don’t want him for just four or five overs, we want him to bowl his full quota of overs,”

Pakistan have not played Akhtar, who has announced his decision to retire after the World Cup, since they lost to New Zealand in the pool matches.Afridi played down his remarks about not allowing Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar to score runs in the semi-final.“The Indian media has treated this negatively. There is never any doubt about Tendulkar’s greatness. But if someone approaches me and asks me about him (Tendulkar) obviously as Pakistan captain I will not say we will allow him to score runs I will say we will ensure he doesn’t get his 100th international century,” Afridi said.

The Pakistan skipper felt the dew factor would play an important role.“Yes, there is a lot of dew in the evenings but they are using chemicals to counter it. But it is a factor we will have to take into consideration at the toss,” he said.

He also expressed disappointment at remarks from Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik about the government keeping a close watch on the players in the semi-final because of last year’s spot-fixing scandal.“I don’t think he should have said such a thing at such a time,” Afridi said.

Afridi hints at changes for remaining matches

“I think the way we started with the ball was good, but then the missed chances maybe demoralised the bowlers and they were very poor in the end.” -Photo by Reuters

PALLEKELE: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Wednesday urged his team to learn the lessons of the 110-run defeat against New Zealand.

The Black Caps rode on a brilliant unbeaten 131 by Ross Taylor to post a challenging 302-7 before Tim Southee removed the top order with a burst of three early wickets to bowl Pakistan out for 192.“There were quite a few lessons to be learned from the defeat, especially those chances we gave to Taylor and when you give such chances to a player like him he makes you pay,” said Afridi. Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal let Taylor off twice in the same Shoaib Akhtar over – once when the batsman was on nought and then on eight – allowing two straightforward chances to slip past him.

Afridi said his bowlers were poor in the death overs when New Zealand plundered 139 runs off the last 10 overs.“I think the way we started with the ball was good, but then the missed chances maybe demoralised the bowlers and they were very poor in the end,” said Afridi.Afridi hoped his top order batsmen will show improvement in the next game, against Zimbabwe on Monday.“Our top order did not work well although we have given them the time to settle down and this was the first time we were chasing. We need to learn how to bat while chasing,” said Afridi. “Taylor took the game away from us although the bowlers had reverse swing.But the way he played was brilliant and he took the game away from us,” said the Pakistan captain.

Pakistan now have six points from four matches, second in Group A behind New Zealand who also have six points but a better net run-rate.Co-hosts Sri Lanka (five points from four) and Australia (five from three) are third and fourth respectively.Afridi hinted Kamran’s younger brother, Umar can be handed the gloves, if needed.“Keeping with Umar is very much an option and we might try it in the next game,” Afridi told GEO tv in Pakistan, of the same option which team used against South Africa in a one-dayer last year.

He also defended Kamran’s hard work.“If you see Kamran train, he puts in a lot of hard work. I don’t know why luck deserted him. He is also upset about his performance and he realizes it too.”