September 09, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 8, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 8: Pakistan’s premier batsman Misbah-ul-Haq said on Monday that while it was premature to say that he is available for the national team’s captaincy, it was up to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to appoint the skipper.

Talking to reporters here on Monday, Misbah said the PCB knew best who should be leading the national side as it had all information about every player and added that obviously he could not appoint himself as captain of the team.

Insisting that leading from the front is a pre-requisite for any skipper, Misbah who made an excellent comeback at the international scene last year, stated that he had the captaincy experience having led the Pakistan ‘A’ side in the previous seasons.

Misbah, who had a 60-plus average at the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship held in South Africa last year, failed to get the ICC nomination for the annual award announced on Monday but his record indeed made a case for him to be nominated.

From Pakistan, only Mohammad Yousuf was nominated in the category of the ‘ODI Player of the Year’ along with India’s Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar besides Australian paceman Nathan Bracken.

However, Yousuf will not go to Dubai to attend the awards ceremony to be held on Wednesday due to the Holy month of Ramazan.