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| September 26, 2003 | Friday | Rajab 28, 1424 |
Uncertainty lingers over captaincy
KARACHI, Sept 25: Rashid Latif joined a growing list of Pakistani captains whose careers have bitten the dust when his replacement Inzamam-ul-Haq took over the hot seat on Thursday.
Over the past 10 years Pakistan have played musical chairs with their captains and coaches, sacking one after the other and pushing the country’s cricket into chaos.
The burly 33-year-old Inzamam becomes the 18th player to be handed the reins since 1993 but the startling statistics do not include stand-in captains.
Pakistan has also had 11 different coaches in the past five years with current coach Javed Miandad recalled for the third time.
Inzamam’s appointment came a day after Rashid Latif resigned over an apparent tussle with chief selector Aamir Sohail and a rift with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Tauqir Zia.
“The appointment of the new captain does not shock me, its part and parcel of Pakistan cricket. I think even the fans don’t take changes seriously,” said Wasim Akram, who had four tenures as captain since his first term in 1993.
“How can you rebuild a team when the captain does not know what’s in store for him. Two days before a series with South Africa a captain resigns and you talk of rebuilding a team for the 2007 World Cup?” said all-rounder Wasim, who retired in May this year.
Off-field activities, wrangling among players, revolts against the captain and personal differences between personnel have triggered the changes.
“Our system is so unfortunately like this that a captain never feels secure and I fear it would continue like this,” said Wasim, who in 1994 faced a revolt by nine fellow players.
Intikhab Alam, another former captain and coach, termed Rashid’s resignation “unfortunate”.
“It is very very unfortunate that such a thing has happened with just a few days to go for the series against South Africa,” Intikhab told AFP.
He was himself sacked as coach mid-way through Pakistan’s series against Sri Lanka in 2000.
“Rashid should have been allowed to lead freely but there were so many interferences and this is not good as we need continuity,” he said.
The most interesting feature in the skipper appointments is the fact that players who are sidelined come back as captain and once dropped from the captaincy they are dropped from the team.
Inzamam, not regarded as leadership material, was recalled for last month’s series against Bangladesh after a four-month lay off following a flop World Cup in March.
Pakistan cricket captains since 1993: Feb 1993: Wasim Akram. Feb 1994: Salim Malik. Sept 1995: Ramiz Raja. Nov 1995: Wasim Akram. Nov 1996: Saeed Anwar. April 1997: Ramiz Raja. Oct 1997: Saeed Anwar. Nov 1997: Wasim Akram. Feb 1998: Aamir Sohail. March 1998: Rashid Latif. Oct 1998: Aamir Sohail. Dec 1998: Moin Khan. Jan 1999: Wasim Akram. Feb 2000: Saeed Anwar, March 2000: Moin Khan. April 2001: Waqar Younis. March 2003: Rashid Latif and Sept 2003: Inzamam-ul-Haq.—AFP
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