KARACHI: Pakistan great Javed Miandad feels Sarfaraz Ahmed was better suited to lead the Test team in Australia than the newly-appointed Shan Masood.

“It is clear that Sarfraz is a very seasoned cricketer and has done well as captain before for Pakistan and if he had been made captain it would have been vital for the team in Australia which is a tough place to tour,” Miandad told reporters here on Wednesday.

“Sarfraz Ahmed should not only be included in the team against Australia, but due to his experience, he should have been the captain.”

Referring to the appointments of Wahab Riaz as chief selector, Mohammad Hafeez as team director and Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal as bowling coaches, Miandad said he always felt that there should be a age gap between coaches and players in international cricket.

Without a difference in age, he feels there won’t be any respect between players and coaches.

“I don’t see any logic behind bringing in players as selectors, coaches and director who have played with most of the current players,” said Miandad.

The former Pakistan captain also lamented that those who didn’t know the “ABC of modern day cricket” had removed Babar Azam as captain from all three formats.

“This will have a negative impact on the team in coming days,” he added. Miandad also rubbished the habit of the board to turn to foreign coaches.

“In the last two decades we have had so many foreign coaches and where do we stand as a cricket nation we couldn’t even reach the semi-finals of the World Cup,” he noted. “Mickey Arthur’s appointment on his terms was an insult to all those who can do a better job as coaches for Pakistan.”

He noted that India had enjoyed notable success in all formats in recent times and all their last three coaches were stalwarts including Anil Kumble, Ravi Shastri and now Rahul Dravid.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2023