LAHORE: National team head coach Waqar Younis is arriving here on Sunday, as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) seeks to finalise discussions with all concerned before naming national ODI and T20 captains on coming Tuesday, besides finalising the pool of players for the World Cup.

While PCB chairman Shaharyar M. Khan on national T20 captaincy has kept his cards close to his chest, speculations are rife in cricketing circles that young Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood — along with veteran Shahid Afridi — is also in the run for the post. Even Mohammad Hafeez, who after Pakistan’s poor show in the World T20 earlier this year lost the leadership of the shortest format, may be restored to the helm.

“Appointing national T20 captain is not an easy job for the PCB as not a single candidate holds strong enough credentials to claim the important position,” a PCB official said.

“While Sohaib possesses no leadership experience, Afridi in the past left the job in an unceremonious manner and moreover the explosive all-rounder wants full power as captain,” added the official.

“And asking Hafeez to again accept the post [which he lost just a few months ago due to the team’s poor showing] does not make much sense.

“All this makes it very tough for the PCB to take a final decision on the T20 captaincy.

“But it is confirmed that no player is final for this post and there can be strong arguments and counter-arguments on the subject when PCB’s cricket committee meets on Monday to finalise the name for T20 captaincy, which will be announced on Tuesday,” the PCB official concluded.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014