Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower has joined the frenzy of Pakistan’s captaincy debacle and named his captain for the Men in Green after they were knocked out from the group stage of the T20 World Cup 2024.
Pakistan cricket team has been struggling with leadership controversies for quite some time.
Babar Azam stepped down last year in November. Shan Masood was revealed to lead the Test side and Shaheen Shah Afridi was named captain of the T20I team
However, Babar was again given the white-ball captaincy in March 2024 ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 starting in June.
“As far as the leadership is concerned, Shadab Khan is out of the running because he is not doing his primary job well. I don’t think they will go back to Shaheen which leaves Babar and Rizwan as the option. Rizwan I think, is an excellent leader of men. He has got a big heart and he has got ample integrity and people follow him. I think he is an option for them,” Flower stated while talking on ESPN Cricinfo.
Flower was also asked about where Pakistan went wrong in the T20 World Cup.
Flower stated that the sudden changes in captaincy and the arrival of a new head coach disturbed the cricket team’s dynamic.
“They made some quite radical changes just prior to the World Cup. They brought Babar back as captain and relegated Shaheen. They also brought back Imad Wasim from the wilderness along with Mohammad Amir. So, big changes just prior to the tournament starting but I think these changes should have strengthened Pakistan.”
He also lamented Gary Kirsten’s start as the head coach of the Pakistan cricket team. Kirsten has coached India’s and South Africa’s cricket teams and won the 2011 Cricket World Cup with India.
“What a tough start for Gary Kirsten as a coach coming in fresh, he obviously could not mould the side. He did not have time to mould the side into a unit he would fully understand,” Flower added.
He also analysed Pakistan’s body language throughout the T20 World Cup and concluded that the team “looked as if they were panicking.”
“Pakistan looked as if they were panicking. Not only when they were under severe pressure but even just in normal competitive cricketing situations they looked like they were panicking a little in the field and with the ball and bat. So, they have got a lot of work to do. Gary Kirsten’s got a lot of work to do to get them back on track,” he concluded.
Pakistan has one more match to play in the T20 World Cup against Ireland who is also out of the tournament. The match is scheduled for June 16 in Florida where there has been consistent rain and in the past two days, two matches were cancelled due to extensive rainfall.
