THE appointment of seasoned all-rounder Shahid Afridi as the new T20 skipper has been widely hailed by cricketing circles across the country.

Though Afridi’s chequered form of late with both bat and ball have drawn calls for his demotion in the batting order, experts and critics agree that he is an aggressive leader with the ability to inculcate the much-needed fighting spirit in the team.

Afridi, who astutely led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup, has surprisingly been given a longer reign as captain this time round as the PCB wants his appointment to continue until the 2016 WorldT20.

Also Read: Afridi named T20 captain until 2016 championship

However, he may not have many immediate opportunities to display his talent as skipper since Pakistan have only two T20 international matches lined up in 2014 — one each against Australia and New Zealand in Sharjah.

Afridi’s appointment also indirectly puts pressure on regular Test and ODI skipper Misbah-ul-Haq who has recently come in for a lot of flak, especially from former players, for his defensive, less animated style of captaincy seen as the root cause of Pakistan’s disastrous series in Sri Lanka last month.

Afridi’s most crucial task from now on will be to put together a team of match-winners for the challenges ahead besides rejuvenating himself as an all-rounder if he is to improve the team’s efforts.

But be it Misbah-ul-Haq or Shahid Afridi, what really rankles is the trend of flogging the old warhorses each time there is need for choosing a new captain.

With a number of talented youngsters like Sohaib Maqsood, Ahmed Shehzad, Fawad Alam and Asad Shafiq on the horizon now, the PCB ought to shun its policy of going round in circles and must start grooming the new lads as future captains.

India’s Virat Kohli, South Africa’s Faf Du Plessi, England’s Stuart Broad and Australia’s George Bailey are some prime examples of young guns being handed the reins in the early stages of their careers, and they have performed admirably for their respective nations.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2014