KARACHI: The Pakistan cricket bigwigs are contemplating on the possibility of having a change in command of the national one-day squad ahead of next year’s ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, according to chief selector-cum-Pakistan team manager Moin Khan.

Moin, addressing his first media conference at the National Stadium here on Tuesday, indicated that the think tank of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have had held discussions at length over the captaincy of Pakistan one-day side.

Misbah-ul-Haq is in-charge of both the national Test and One-day teams since the post-2011 World Cup period after having been entrusted the Test captaincy in the aftermath of the spot-fixing saga in 2010.

Moin — flanked by PCB’s director coordination and implementation Amjad Hussain Bhatti as well as fellow selector and head coach of National Cricket Academy Mohammad Akram — gave strong hints that Misbah might be relieved from the leadership of the one-day team despite PCB Chairman Najam Sethi’s repeated assurances in the media that Misbah, who turns 40 on May 28, would be leading Pakistan at the quadrennial mega event.

“Yes, this [the one-day captaincy] issue has been discussed from time to time in recent weeks. But there is nothing concrete as such whether Misbah would be replaced before the World Cup,” Moin said. “But I can confirm that we have been considering the possibility of changing the One-day captain.”

Although Moin, who is perceptibly wielding powers since emerging on the horizon as Sethi’s chief advisor, didn’t fully commit in saying that Misbah could make way for someone else, his tone sent a clear message that the cricket board may rethink its strategy to enable Pakistan having a better chance at the 2015 World Cup which certainly would be Misbah’s final appearance in international cricket.

In the past few weeks, certain lobbies within the PCB are planning full throttle to force a change in Pakistan One-day captaincy.

Moin himself on record said last week that Pakistan need an aggressive leader to carry their World Cup aspirations. Rumours of Shahid Afridi being reappointed as skipper have been doing the rounds in the cricketing circles. “He (the ODI skipper) should be someone with a proven track record as a player and provide aggressive leadership,” Moin had told reporters during a club match in Lahore. “At the same time he should also be liked and respected in the team as well as in the media and by the people too.”

With the resignation of Mohammad Hafeez as the national Twenty20 captain following Pakistan’s first-round exit at the recent World Twenty20 in Bangladesh and his decision to step down from the vice-captaincy of the one-day team, Pakistan will have to find a new leader in the shortest format before they play their next T20 fixture — against Australia in Dubai on Oct 3.

Already 22-year-old opener Ahmed Shehzad, now an established playing member in all three forms of cricket, is being widely tipped to take over the reins of the national Twenty20 side.

According to the sources, Afridi, who led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent, has the backing of the lobbyists who are keen on seeing the genial Misbah getting ousted from his current status.

Ironically, Misbah was the highest run-getter last year in One-day Internationals among all players with a tally of 1373 runs in 32 innings of 34 matches that he played, averaging 54.92 with 15 half-centuries with a strike-rate of almost 74.

The possible re-appointment of Afridi as captain could have severe repercussions if Waqar Younis — who has emerged as the strongest candidate — is picked by the PCB has the head coach because during Waqar’s first term in the job, Afridi developed serious differences with the former captain and was later forced to give up the captaincy.