Fresh turmoil in Pakistan cricket over the team captaincy for the upcoming World Cup 2015 has yet again highlighted bad governance on part of the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is also hurting the national team’s chances of putting up a decent show in the upcoming Test series against the mighty Australians.

The captaincy row was needlessly triggered by a rare, though perplexing, instance which saw regular skipper Misbah-ul-Haq opting out of the final ODI in Abu Dhabi last Sunday after Pakistan lost the series against Australia following successive defeats in Sharjah and Dubai.

Seasoned all-rounder Shahid Afridi was handed the reins for the third game in a rather mysterious manner which provided fodder for speculation to the media and fanned fears of groupings within the team.

Chairman Shaharyar Khan’s remarks that the final decision on leaving or retaining the World Cup captaincy rested with Misbah did not help.

The fact is that while the national cricket team continues to grapple with serious issues such as countering the Aussie juggernaut and numerous injuries to its key players, the PCB’s ineptitude as well as the substantially large team management in the UAE have only compounded the crisis.

It was only last month that the banishment of ace bowler Saeed Ajmal by the ICC over an illegal bowling action coupled with the unceremonious ouster of reliable campaigner Younis Khan from the ODIs had rocked Pakistan cricket.

Regretfully, it seems that neither the PCB nor the team managers have learnt their lesson. The bottom line is that Pakistan has lost the ODI series 3-0 and are likely to experience the same fate in the two-match Test series commencing next week if there is no attempt to inject logic into decision-making.

The PCB had named Misbah as skipper for the mega event a good two months ago and it now needs to remove any ambiguity on the issue. This would greatly help Pakistan go into the Test series with a clear mind and high morale.

Published in Dawn, October 15th , 2014