IT was simply ludicrous on the part of the team management to make Misbah sit out in the final ODI. If anyone deserved to be dropped, it was Afridi who has failed miserably with the bat and ball and whose fitness too is suspect. The atrocious shot that he played when the team was on the brink of victory is ample reason for him to call it a day.

Imagine without his form and fitness, the team management asked him to replace Misbah as captain. Misbah, who has been unlucky in the last few matches, is still the fittest and best of the lot available and should be encouraged and persevered with until the World Cup.

Farooq Dawood

Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2014