Someone is pulling Misbah-ul-Haq’s strings: Aaqib Javed

Fast bowling great Aaqib Javed believes that Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq’s decision to throw another lifeline to beleaguered batsmen Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad is a clear sign that he is taking dictation from someone else.

After Pakistan meekly surrendered the T20I series to a depleted Sri Lanka side on home turf, Javed lashed out at the newly installed coaching regime, led by Misbah.

“Someone is pulling Misbah-ul-Haq’s strings,” said the 1992 World Cup winner. “There is someone who is dictating to him.

“The kind of personality and mindset Misbah has, I cannot even think that the decision to play Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad could be his.”

READ: Sri Lanka make history as Pakistan’s experi-mental approach backfires

“Misbah and Waqar Younis, as the captain and head coach, had written letters regarding these players,” Javed said of a scathing report penned by Waqar Younis, a two-time former head coach who is now the bowling coach.

“They wanted this duo to be kept away from the national fold then how come have they brought them back? I just cannot believe that the decision to recall them was theirs.

Akmal and Shehzad’s selection is currently a burning question in Pakistan cricket as both have failed in back-to-back innings, with the latter suffering the ignominy of scoring two golden ducks.

'Sarfaraz is not a captain but a mere pawn'

But Javed reserved the greatest criticism for skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, whom he called “not a captain but a mere pawn”.

“Sri Lanka achieved a lot in this series despite sending their A team. Their captain led with a daring mindset, which trickled down in their players.

Meanwhile, just take a look at Sarfaraz. He adopts the approach of whatever coach there is. He is not a captain actually. He takes the field as a mere pawn and then asks every time ‘Misbah bhai what should I do now?’

“If Sarfaraz were a [real] captain, he would never have accepted Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad.”

'Imran Khan's unilateral decisions made sense'

Javed said that Imran Khan also used to take unilateral decisions as captain but added that his mindset was positive.

“Imran Khan would bring new players and fight for them but he did not do that with players who have been tried and failed 10 times.

“If we keep on doing this then we’d never progress,” he added.