Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan bowling coach Azhar Mahmood believes appointing one captain – Sarfraz Ahmed – for all formats is an efficient move by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Azhar, in an interview with PakPassion.net, clarified his preference of one-captain-for-all-formats policy. “Conventional wisdom dictates that being a captain of any side is a stressful job but to be appointed captain for all three teams can add a whole new level of pressure,” he said. “However, in my opinion, having one captain for all three formats is the right decision. The reason is simply that one captain can have a better overall view of the workload on all players involved in the three teams.”

He then explained why this formula works. “So, for example, an ODI captain would want Mohammad Amir or Hasan Ali in his team, as would the T20I one and also the Test captain would want the same. In that sense, we would not be able to implement a rotation policy for the bowlers as each captain would want the best for his team without looking at the larger picture, which is something one captain in all formats can do with ease,” he explained. Mahmood added having one captain also makes it less hectic for the players to understand their leader’s thought process. “One more advantage of having one captain is that he can develop a good understanding with all players in the squad across all formats. From a player’s point of view, he has to deal with three different captains and understand their style of thinking, which can be confusing, so having one captain can easily solve this problem,” said Mahmood.

‘Not taking Sri Lanka lightly’: Pakistan are going to face Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series, starting from September 28, and Mahmood says Sarfraz and co will not show any complacency against a new-face opposition. “Let’s remember that any series against an international team cannot be taken lightly,” he said. “The same applies to our upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, regardless of whether their experienced or established players are in the squad or not.” He continued by saying that Pakistan will try their best to score a series victory against Sri Lanka. “I do accept that after winning the Champions Trophy and also winning the Independence Cup, the expectations associated with the Pakistan team are pretty high, but we cannot take success for granted against any side. The competition will be undoubtedly tough but we will aim to play good cricket and win this series by a good margin,” said Mahmood.

Published in Daily Times, September 26^th 2017.