Kamran Akmal opines on Pakistan’s next captain and coaching staff

Pakistan’s poor performance in the 2019 World Cup has left a lot to be pondered upon. Despite winning their last four matches, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Co couldn’t make it beyond the league stages. The same was owing to their disastrous start to the campaign, having won only one out of their first five encounters. Meanwhile, team management is set to undergo a few changes.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) committee is set to meet on August 2 in Lahore in order to discuss the team’s show in the mega event. A lot of other issues will also be put forth during the discussion, including choosing their new captain and coach. On this matter, Kamran Akmal, the discarded keeper-batsman, said that whoever gets selected should get a couple of years to settle down.

“I think the PCB should at least give two years to the captain and the coaching staff in order to properly gauge their performance. Captain Sarfraz Ahmed and the current coaching staff have been there for around three years, which is enough time to put the team on the right track,” the 37-year-old Akmal was quoted as saying in cricketpakistan.com.pk.

Arthur and Sarfaraz’s stint for Pakistan

Mickey Arthur is the current coach of the Pakistan team and he has been shouldering the mantle ever since May 2016. Under his tutelage, the Men in Green won the Champions Trophy 2017 in England and also attained the number one position in ICC rankings of T20I teams. Reports have mentioned that the South African is mostly likely to be persisted as the coach.

It was also learned that Sarfaraz would be relieved off Test captaincy. Azhar Ali’s name has been contemplated for the position. Pakistan is currently ranked seventh in ICC’s rankings for Test teams and that shows the tough times Sarfaraz has had. His batting has also been affected.

The 32-year-old Sarfaraz has captained the Test team in 13 games out of which Pakistan could only win four. As far as his ODI leadership is concerned, he took over from Azhar Ali way back in April 2017 and led in 48 matches out of which Pakistan managed to win only 26.