LAHORE: Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf while declaring that Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq is still the best choice for captaincy pointed out that the incumbent PCB chief Shaharyar Khan looked like a puppet who could only earn a bad name by adopting stratagems of former chairman Najam Sethi, who according to Zaka, is still working as de facto PCB chairman.

Talking to Dawn on Monday, the former PCB chairman termed the treatment meted out to both Misbah and Mohammad Hafeez as disgraceful. “I believe both Misbah and Hafeez have been disgraced by the PCB by removing them from captaincy which has affected them negatively,” Zaka remarked.

“If continuity is the policy of Shaharyar, which I think is the best policy, then he should have stood by Misbah as captain since Shahid Afridi has no leadership credentials,” Zaka commented.

“If Misbah could not perform in the last two series, there is no need for raising hue and cry since his previous performance during the last four years speaks volume about the middle-order batsman,” added the former chairman who also questioned Afridi’s performance saying: “If Misbah is out of form what Afridi has done during the last two years?

“You can’t make U-turn so frequently,” said the former PCB chief while stating that it should be the priority of the PCB to support Misbah instead of considering another player for captaincy.”

Zaka further said that instead of maintaining continuity, former PCB chief Sethi removed the then T20 captain Hafeez after the last World T20 and now the same circumstances had been created for the Test and ODI captain Misbah to force him to quit his jobs.

“I believe both Misbah and Hafeez have been removed in an unfair manner which is nothing but an insult to them. Instead of removing their flaws to keep them going, both have been removed in an insulting way,’’ he reckoned.

The ex-chairman said that he had left a winning Pakistan side which had whitewashed England and had also defeated Sri Lanka in back-to-back series besides winning the Asia Cup but nothing of that sort happened after him.

“Actually, it is the result of the wrong policies initiated by Sethi who still acts behind the curtain to control Shaharyar,” Zaka said, adding, “Shaharyar in this old age should not play second fiddle to Sethi.”

Moin Khan had been inducted into the team management during the tenure of Sethi and after that Pakistan had even lost to Zimbabwe which showed where Pakistan cricket stood, said the ex-chairman of the PCB who also criticised Sethi for being elected as chairman of the Executive Committee of the Governing Board, which according to him, has no mention in the PCB constitution.

“As chairman of the Executive Committee of the Governing Board, Sethi has become de facto chairman of the PCB while Shaharyar will only face criticism,” Zaka believes.

It may be mentioned here that a special room adjacent to that of the PCB chairman has been renovated for Sethi, who has been abroad for over one month owing to which working of the PCB has suffered because as chairman of the Executive Committee he has to take decisions regarding administration and finance. Many also believe that Sethi has preferred to go abroad due to the current political situation of the country.

Published in Dawn, October 14th , 2014