July 12, 2008	Saturday	Rajab 8, 1429

NEW DELHI, July 11: Clearly not convinced by Shoaib Malik’s leadership abilities, former captain Wasim Akram feels the present Pakistan skipper is weak and has failed to back his players.

Wasim was particularly irked by Malik’s comments during the Asia Cup that he was only playing with the eleven which the selectors had handed over to him. Wasim said selection in Pakistan is always a politicised affair but Malik needed to put his foot down if he had some other ideas.

“Fourteen boys went to the tri-nation in Bangladesh last month; Pakistan won the tournament, but two have been dropped. They didn’t even play and were dropped. What they must be going through, I can only imagine. That’s where Shoaib Malik has to be strong,” Wasim said.

“As a leader and as a player he has to be positive. In the beginning I thought he had the skills; now I have my doubts. Against Zimbabwe he bowled ten overs in almost every match, against Bangladesh he bowled a little less.

“But in big matches he is not bowling. Do you think nobody notices? People do. Most of all, players notice how the leader is doing,” Wasim said.

According to him, man management is the key for any captain and Wasim recalled his days to make his point. “I had Aamir Sohail, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad, Ramiz Raja, Saleem Malik, Ijaz Ahmed - they were all different characters, they were all difficult, but they were all match-winners. I learned to listen to them and back them up when they were not doing well.

I knew as a captain that when they came back to form they would win me a match.” “Malik has to learn that. (Abdur) Rauf gets three wickets in one match, but doesn’t get to play in the next. This is captain’s fault, not the selectors’.

“Now he says the XI is given by selectors, but I know that in Pakistan if you are a strong captain there is no way the selectors can do that to you. We have all been through this, me, Inzamam, Imran (Khan), Miandad, we all did that but we always had our team,” said Wasim.

“Imran was the best ever. He led from the front, with the bat, with the ball. Under pressure he went in at No. 3 in the 1992 World Cup. No other captain from India or Pakistan could ever have done it. I couldn’t have done such a brave thing, because I’d think: what if I failed? He was never scared. Imran was so dominant that even the coaches did not interfere with him, but he won us so many matches.”—Agencies