One quality of Shahid Afridi that makes him a better leader than many other recent captains is the bonding he created within the team and the way he's respecting the senior members in the side. It is a great sight to see Shoaib and Shahid coming out in the field together, standing side by side for national anthem and participating during on-field discussions; the results are obvious and theres nothing shocking about it. Shoaib has become a motivating factor in the side; to be very honest with you guys I really believe it was Mahela's wicket that sealed the victory for Pakistan against Sri Lanka!
However, Extremism to anything is no wise. As much as I am convinced that Waqar Younis is a defensive coach, all Shahid Afridi doing is becoming a popular captain amongst team members; so much so that now it has started hurting Pakistan really bad. I understand that as a captain he has responsibility to face media's tough questions and at the same time keep his players' confidence lifted; and to some extent I appreciated him defending Kamran Akmal. No doubt he (Kamran Akmal) is an extra-ordinary talent with bat and I am sure he will deliver it in round 2 and onwards.
In my views, Kamran Akmal is still not a bad pick for the remaining of the WC'11 matches. What irate me is the undeclared immunity Kamran Akmal has got, his attitude speaks for himself. 'No matter how bad I perform - I will never be dropped'. And this is dangerous; Moin Khan was probably the better wicket keepers we had in the past, only because he was always on his toes, he always knew if I'll fail to perform I'll be thrown out and Rashid would get a chance.
Somebody will have to remind Kamran that hes not bigger than the team, and I expected it from Afridi. Just 2 days after Afridi said that the junior Akmal might take the gloves from Kamran; unsprisingly, Umar injured his finger and news is that Kamran Akmal to persist with the keeping role. Umar Akmal has been previously penalized for faking injury for the very same reason - I can bet for anything that this is no real injury.
I think both brothers should be forced to sit out for next 2 games - Asad Shafiq and Younis both can keep the wickets and I am sure they won't be doing Kamran Akmal (dropping easiest of catches). But captain, coach and manager are reluctant to take any action against them. Yeah! there may be Intikhab Alam's report pointing out these issues if Pakistan fails to reach in the final fours. This is ridiculous!
As much as my understanding of the game goes, Shahid Afridi is over doing the bonding stuff - he wants to remain popular among team members and the only way he can be in the eyes of Akmals is, to persist with them.
He is not even willing to try his bench strength against weaker teams. Junaid Khan should have got a chance against Kenya and New Zealand - I hope he gets a chance against Zimbabwe or Australia though this seems highly unlikely. Wahab Riaz is being constantly ignored despite being the second best bowler, in my views, to Umar Gul. Abdul Rehman is being preferred over attacking Saeed Ajmal; Ajmal can be a match winning bowler in these conditions.
Afridi must take brave moves and the likes of Akhtar, Misbah and Younis must back him. Kamran Akmal is one of the best batsman for these conditions but his batting order needs to be revised and the captain must ensure he doesn't give away his wicket. We need to make him play quarter-final and onwards, but for the time being, its good to make him sit out and try the bench strength.
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