Former PCB chief finds Hafeez unsuitable for T20 capitancy

Islamadbad, May 13 (ANI): Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) former Chairman Ijaz Butt has criticised the decision of appointing cricketer Mohammad Hafeez as the captain of the T20 squad in place of Misbah-ul-Haq.

"Hafeez is not a suitable candidate for captaincy of any format of the game and Misbah-ul-Haq was the best choice, but I don't know what kind of pressure Zaka was under, which forced him to take an unnecessary decision, without any rock-solid reason," Dawn.com quoted Ijaz, as saying.

Ijaz, who appointed Misbah as skipper for all the three formats after testing him as Test captain for almost one year, claimed that the calm and cool middle-order batsman 'had all the guts to lead the team' in all formats of the game as 'his records speak itself'.

He said though Hafeez was a good all-rounder, he had some shortcomings as captain, which 'could not be discussed in public'.

The former chairman added that Shoaib Malik should be given the captaincy of at least the T20 team after the World Cup as 'he was a better choice as compared to Hafeez'.

Ijaz further said Pakistan had to play just five T20 matches before the World Cup which 'would not help Hafeez'.

The PCB had made Hafeez the captain of the T20 team and vice-captain of Misbah in Tests and ODIs on Thursday. (ANI)