SHAHID Afridi may have been cruising for a bruising with his muted criticism of the team coach and also the performance of individual players. Under the code of conduct that international Pakistani cricketers sign with the board, they are not authorised to make controversial statements to the media. This is something that Afridi has allegedly done for quite some time now, the most recent being his comments about team coach Waqar Younis whose past, incidentally, is hardly untarnished going by the Justice Qayyum report on match-fixing. Afridi, a hugely popular cricketer, has now been sacked as the Pakistan limited-overs captain. This is yet another incident that has rocked Pakistan cricket just as it seemed that it was on its way up.

Afridi, for all his minor faults, was an inspirational captain. He led the team from the front. He may have faltered with the bat but has bowled beautifully in recent months, taking the side all the way to the semi-finals of the cricket World Cup. True, his performance in the West Indies left a lot to be desired but most commentators agree that one poor series — which, incidentally, Pakistan won — was not the sole motivation behind his ouster. Misbahul Haq, the Test captain, has now been named as Afridi's replacement. Misbah represents the umpteenth change in captaincy in both Test and one-day formats of the game during the tenure of PCB chairman Ijaz Butt. Shahid Afridi did not deserve to be sacked, for the simple reason that he was putting Pakistan back on the winning track after several years in the cricketing wilderness. To his credit, Afridi has opted to continue playing even though he is no longer captain. What is needed now is a shake-up in the governing body, not the team which is doing itself credit despite the myriad problems it faces. Ijaz Butt should fully realise the importance of the job he is expected to do, or leave it.