ICC Cricket World Cup 2011:Pakistan captain Afridi in WC 2011

Tags: ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Pakistan, Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi, Team Captain, vice captain, Misbah-ul-Haq Khan Niazi

Published on: Feb 04, 2011

Pakistan has retained all-rounder Shahid Afridi as captain for the World Cup and named Misbah-ul-Haq as the vice-captain.

Pakistan has retained all-rounder Shahid Afridi as captain for the World Cup and named Misbah-ul-Haq as the vice-captain.

"Afridi will lead Pakistan in the World Cup," Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told reporters on Friday.

Pakistan was the only country among the 14 World Cup participants which did not name its captain when announcing its 15-man squad last month.

The hard-hitting Afridi had led Pakistan to a series victory in the ongoing one-day series against New Zealand, enhancing his credentials to be the World Cup captain.

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said in a statement that he had a detailed discussions with team management and players in New Zealand regarding captain and vice captain.

"I am pleased to state that everyone fully endorsed these decisions," Butt said.

There was some speculation that Misbah might get the World Cup captaincy after leading Pakistan to victory in the Test series against New Zealand and drawing the Test series against South Africa.

However, former Test cricketers had backed Afridi as one-day captain.

Pakistan's 2003 World Cup captain Waqar Younis will continue as coach. Aqib Javed — a paceman in the 1992 World Cup-winning squad — will be bowling consultant while Intikhab Alam will be the manager.

Pakistan is placed in Group A with Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Canada and will play all its group matches in Sri Lanka.

Related News