Miandad backs Yousuf as skipper

KARACHI: Former skipper and senior official of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Javed Miandad believes the board should look at giving a long-term tenure to stand-in captain Mohammad Yousuf.
‘The fact is that Yousuf accepted the responsibility of captaincy at a very difficult time for Pakistan cricket and the team didn’t do that badly in New Zealand,’ Miandad said on Wednesday. ‘The board must look at the possibility of giving him a proper run as captain.’
Yousuf was made the captain initially for just the Test series in New Zealand in November after Younis Khan pulled out of the tour due to various reasons.
The board recently retained Yousuf as captain for the Test and one-day series in Australia as well with Younis skipping the Australian tour as well.
Miandad pointed out that Yousuf had handled the team well and it had performed well in New Zealand. ‘If we show more consistency in our batting and fielding we can also improve our performance in Australia and can even defeat them,’ he added.
Miandad blamed the team’s inconsistency to lack of playing opportunities for the team in last two years and absence of any international series at home.