Javed Miandad and Mohammad Yousuf call for Afridi to replace Hafeez

Pakistan cricket captain Mohammad Hafeez

Following their World Cup T20 loss against India, Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has come in for severe criticism from former national captains Javed Miandad and Mohammad Yousuf. Both of them want Shahid Afridi to replace Hafeez as the captain in the limited-overs internationals.

More than the defeat, it is the ease at which MS Dhoni-led team brushed aside their arch-rivals, who are considered as one of the title contenders, that has surprised the cricketing world.

1992-World Cup winner Miandad said: “Hafeez needed to be more attacking with his bowlers and field placings once we were able to set them only a target of 130 runs. The key to winning the match was to stop the runs if wickets were not falling so that the run rate increased and the Indians came under pressure. Unfortunately Hafeez failed to do that as captain. He should have used his bowlers more proactively.”

On why he wants Afridi to take over the role, he added: “Afridi is more aggressive and proactive and the responsibility could also force him to raise his own game.”

Yousuf, who was the mainstay in the Pakistan line-up in the last decade, said: “With better captaincy and the right pressure we could have made this total of 130 like 160 for India but this didn’t happen.

Reports suggest that Hafeez and coach Moin Khan don’t agree on several aspects of how the team should function, besides adding that both of them don’t meet eye-to-eye any more owing to the strained relationship.