The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is in a quandary over finding a suitable candidate for the post of vice-captain for Pakistan team’s tour of Zimbabwe scheduled later this month.
The importance of appointing a vice-captain was felt after a non-cricketer Naveed Akram Cheema was named as the manager of the national team in place of former Test captain Intikhab Alam.
An important meeting was held in the PCB on Thursday to decide the next vice-captain as well as finalising the team management for the tour.
Though the tour of Zimbabwe is a low-profile assignment and can be completed without a vice-captain, the PCB deems it appropriate to have a vice-captain in order to complete the quorum for the tour selection committee.
First three options for the post of Misbah-ul-Haq’s deputy appear to be Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar and Imran Farhat.
However, since none of the three are exactly ‘young’ cricketers and cannot be groomed as future captain, the PCB may look for some other candidate to fulfil its long-term planning.
Moreover, sources said captain Misbah was ken to have a junior player groomed as his deputy in Test cricket and may prefer talented Azhar Ali for the vice-captain’s post.
Furthermore, Hafeez’s performance has not been exemplary, especially in the Test matches, and he has only cemented his place in the One-day team, mainly because of his utility as an all-rounder.
In the last six months, Hafeez has played four Test matches and in the eight innings he has scored just 88 runs at the average 12.57. In ODIs, he has played 21 matches in the same period and has accumulated 700 runs at 36.84 averages besides claiming 19 wickets at the average 27.21.
Taufiq, however, has fared better. He has played 31 Tests scoring 2167 at the averages 39.40 while Imran Farhat is the most experienced among the three with 39 Test to his credit, scoring 2327 at the average 31.87.
A PCB official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Dawn that in the past some incidents involving Hafeez had not gone down well with the PCB.
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