Former Pakistan players are upset and have called for Azhar Ali's removal as the team's ODI skipper after England defeated the national side by a massive 169-run margin in the third match on Tuesday, in which the hosts also posted the highest ODI total 444/3. England won the five-match series 3-0.
According to the international media, former Test captain Javed Miandad said, “It is time for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to admit they made a mistake in appointing Azhar as the ODI captain and appoint someone else for the series against the West Indies next month.”
“It made no sense to appoint Azhar last year even though he was not in the ODI team since 2013,” the former great said.
Miandad said the obvious choice was wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmad.
“One-day cricket has changed a lot since we played and today I think England gave us an abject lesson in how to play 50 overs. We were outclassed and humiliated,” he said.
Another former Pakistan great Wasim Akram has also called for Sarfraz, the T20I skipper, to lead the team in ODIs as well.
“I think it is the right time to give responsibility to Sarfraz and make him ODI captain. He is a performer under pressure and he can bring about a change,” said Wasim.
Another former Test captain Ramiz Raja also felt that Azhar Ali must be feeling a lot more pressure after Pakistan’s slide in the limited overs cricket.
“I am just concerned that eventually all this pressure and criticism might affect his Test cricket performances.”
Former Test opener and head coach Mohsin Khan said Pakistan’s defeat in the third ODI was very disappointing. “Where are we going in this format. It is going to be a big challenge now for Coach Mickey Arthur to replicate his success of the Test matches into limited over cricket,” he said.
Mohsin felt that Arthur needed to think hard on how he could change the fortunes of Pakistan in ODI cricket. “It is going to be a tough test for him. While we have a settled Test side and are number one, it is exactly the opposite in ODI cricket,” he lamented.
Pakistan were all out for 275 in pursuit of a huge 445-run target against England in the third of the five-match ODI series on Tuesday at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
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