ISLAMABAD – Former Pakistan captain Mushtaq Mohammad on Thursday said all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez is an ideal candidate to lead country's side into the next 2015 World Cup as he has all the right attributes to be a successful captain.
"Hafeez is a smart cricketer, he's intelligent and very knowledgeable and he can work well with a young group of players. I suggest he is given a young group of players to work with and let him lead the One Day and Twenty over teams," he said.
"Give him the captaincy in the 50 over and 20 over format, give him time to establish himself as captain and give the youngsters a proper chance and Pakistan cricket will reap the rewards," Mushtaq told Pak Passion,net on Thursday in an interview.
Mushtaq also called upon the Pakistani selectors to introduce youth to an ageing national One Day squad. "One of the differences between England and the Pakistan team during the One Day series was the freshness and levels of energy in the England side. They (England) showed youthful and energetic side in the field, whereas the Pakistan side looked an aged and tired team" stated Mushtaq.
Mushtaq urged the selectors to give youth a chance, plan ahead and start preparing for the 2015 World Cup. "All other teams are introducing younger players and planning for the 2015 World Cup, but Pakistan seems to be reluctant to do this," he said.
Mushtaq said he has no problems with older players still remaining part of the Test squad, but the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Aizaz Cheema, Abdur Rehman, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal and several others should be replaced in the One Day and Twenty-20 side, as none of these players will be around in the next World Cup in Australia.
Mushtaq believes that selectors need to identify a group of 20 young players to form the One Day and Twenty over squads and should stick with that group of players' to the 2015 World Cup. "The Twenty-20 World Cup is later this year and whilst the selectors have left it very late for youngsters to establish themselves in the Twenty over side, there is still a chance to throw a few youngsters into this team also."
