LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M Khan while reiterating his unequivocal support for Misbah-ul-Haq as Pakistan captain till the World Cup-2015, termed the recent statement made by seasoned all-rounder Shahid Afridi as ‘irresponsible and disappointing’.

“Misbah has the full backing of PCB, chief selector Moin Khan and head coach Waqar Younis as Pakistan captain till the World Cup 2015 and it was his (Misbah) own decision of sitting out the last one-dayer against Australia due to his recent poor form with the bat,” said Shaharyar while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.

“Misbah has five Test matches ahead to get his form back and to come out of this bad patch and I do hope he will get out of this soon. But if not, the PCB has a contingency plan as well,” the PCB chief added.

PCB chief Shaharyar Khan’s presser in Lahore

Looking clearly miffed about Afridi’s statement in Abu Dhabi regarding the World Cup captaincy, Shaharyar said: “I did not meet Shahid Afridi during my last visit to the UAE, but when I came to know about his interview

about captaincy, that is nothing but irresponsibility.

“The PCB is reviewing his entire interview and assessing how much he has violated the central contract and will take action accordingly,” he said.

Asked to elaborate upon his contingency plan if Misbah fails to regain his form before the World Cup, Shaharyar said as precautionary measure the PCB should have some alternate back-up which is the professional way of going about things.

He, however, refuted the impression that Misbah had sidelined himself because he was not getting the support of the players.

To another question, Shaharyar said Afridi was not exactly out of form and his performance in bowling was better against Australia as compared to the last series in Sri Lanka.

“But Afridi’s performance as a batsman has a definite question mark but it is upto the selectors to decide if he deserves a place in the team or not,” the PCB chief said.

Expressing his dismay at the defeat in the last ODI, Shaharyar said Pakistan should not have lost it from a winning position. “The way Pakistan tail-enders failed to get two runs from six balls and needlessly went for the big shots was disappointing and poor cricket and no selector or batting coach can be held responsible for that,” he said.

The chairman, however, admitted that the selectors had failed to assess the crisis management abilities of the players before selecting them which was proving costly for the team.

Shaharyar also sounded unhappy about Moin Khan’s dual jobs as manager and chief selector but added that he would not take any decision at the moment in order to keep the continuity going.

“It is a fact that in the past no one has held the posts of manager and chief selector together as both are of different nature,” said Shaharyar.

“I must also agree that the six-member selection committee is a rather large one but I believe in continuity and every change will be made after thorough consideration, following corporate way of working.”

He also looked displeased about the remodelled structure of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy in which departmental and regional teams were playing together.

“The current structure of Quaid Trophy is not ideal and we must reset it to produce quality players for Pakistan,” Shaharyar said.

“I was elected PCB chairman just six weeks back, so give me another six weeks to assess things better and bring changes after thorough consideration,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, October 15th , 2014