LAHORE, Feb 4: All speculations amid the unusual delay in the appointment of World Cup captain finally ended on Friday as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officially announced its verdict, retaining Shahid Afridi as skipper and Misbah-ul-Haq his deputy for the game's showpiece event, starting in two weeks' time. Besides the captain and vice-captain, the PCB has also named a nine-member team management and the touring selection committee for the spectacle.

However, the main focus remained on the nomination of World Cup captain for which the PCB has been criticised a lot for inordinately delaying the key decision, even after the declaration of the 15-member squad for the game's most prestigious show on Jan 18.

Afridi, an experienced all-rounder, was facing a serious threat to his leadership in the mega event mainly due to his below-par achievements while leading the side in limited-overs contests (both One-day Internationals and Twenty20 games).

Afridi, a veteran of 311 ODIs, led Pakistan in 10 Twenty20 and ODI series, only winning the ODI series against New Zealand recently and two Twenty20 series — one each against Australia and New Zealand.

Afridi's recent ODI series triumph against the Black Caps proved a life-saving tonic for him as he delivered under crunch situation to retain his post for the game's most coveted event.

Misbah had emerged as a strong contender for the World Cup captaincy post after producing commendable results as Test captain in the series against South Africa and New Zealand, besides making his willow speak with high grade of consistency.

Later, Misbah also excelled with the bat against New Zealand while playing under Afridi in the six-match ODI series.

Commenting on the World Cup captaincy decision, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said: “I have had detailed discussions with the team management and players in New Zealand regarding captain and vice-captain [for the World Cup]. And I am pleased to state that everyone fully endorsed these decisions.”

Meanwhile, Ijaz said during his stay in New Zealand he was happy to see every player making efforts to contribute for the team's cause in every match.

Sources said Misbah also supported Afridi as captain to avoid any kind of rift-like situation which could damage the unity of the team ahead of the extravaganza.

Intikhab Alam, the touring selection committee chairman, who is also the team's manager in New Zealand, had been empowered to deal strictly with any wrongdoing by any player including the captain, sources added.

Afridi, head coach Waqar Younis and vice-captain Misbah are also members of the touring selection committee. In case of not achieving consensus over the inclusion of any player in the playing eleven, the final decision would be taken by Intikhab, sources revealed.

The upcoming World Cup will be Afridi's fourth, but first as skipper.

Meanwhile, in the team management Intikhab (manager), Waqar Younis (head coach), Aaqib Javed (bowling consultant) and Shahid Aslam (assistant team manager) are significant who retained their posts.

Other members of the management are: Dr Faisal Hayat (physio), Saboor Ahmed (trainer), Mohammad Talha Ejaz (analyst), Mohammad Akhtar (masseur) and Wasim Ahmed (security adviser).