Pakistan news

Inzamam blasts Malik over unfair treatment of seniors

Cricinfo staff

November 5, 2008

	Mohammad Yousuf's departure to the ICL may have been due to his unhappiness with the way the team management and board had dealt with him since Malik took over as captain © AFP

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, has criticised the current leader Shoaib Malik for not treating senior players with respect and claimed some of them complained to him about Malik's behaviour. "He has not been fair with senior players and has let them down on several occasions," Inzamam told Pakistan channel Geo Sport. "He has not been open and honest with them and they have conveyed their unhappiness to me. It is very unfortunate the way Malik has handled his responsibilities as a captain and relations with senior players who need to be treated with respect."

Inzmam also questioned Malik's leadership. "He may be an organised and intelligent cricketer but I can't say the same thing about his captaincy."

Mushtaq Ahmed, the former legspinner, on the same note, said captaincy was about man-management more then anything else. "Any captain to be successful must be very good at man management that is what I have seen from the best captains I have played under. A captain needs to support the players in trying circumstances," he said.

This is not the first time that Malik's captaincy has come under fire. Inzamam had earlier called for a more experienced captain or coach at the helm. A sentiment shared by Wasim Akram, another former Pakistan captain, who believed that Malik needed to be more strong in selection affairs.

Pakistan recently lost the T20 Canada final against Sri Lanka under Malik's captaincy. They also failed to reach the final of the Asia Cup held in Karachi featuring six teams. Defeats in the two Test series, first against South Africa at home, and then in India, also came during his reign.

However, they won a couple of bilateral series involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and the Kitply Cup, a tri-nation tournament in Bangladesh featuring the hosts and India.

Malik's captaincy is due to be reviewed by PCB later this month as his current term ends on December 31.

© Cricinfo

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