Former players want Whatmore, Misbah axed

South Africa thrashed Pakistan by a whopping margin of 117 runs in the fifth and final ODI in Sharjah and annihilated the hosts 4-1 in the five-match series. It was once again a sorry tale for Pakistan as their batting capitulated under pressure. Reacting to the debacle in the UAE, former captains and players from Pakistan have urged the selectors to replace the incumbent coach, Dav Whatmore and also explore options for a new skipper. "Misbah is a spiritless captain and that is hurting the team and our cricket. I don't think there is any justification now for the board to retain him any further atleast in one-day matches," stated former speedster, Shoaib Akhtar. Mohammad Yousuf echoed the same sentiments as his former teammate. "I would hold Misbah responsible for the losing mentality we have developed in one-day cricket. He has not done good to the team. There is a need to bring in new faces and a new leadership," Yousuf said. Former wicket-keeper batsman, Rashid Latif went a step further and suggested that factionalism in the dressing room was letting the team down and affecting its performance on the field. "I say this with experience in the past whenever we had an atmosphere of groupings we lost but when we were one and played as a unit we could beat anyone," Latif said. He added that the team management and the selectors were as blame to blame as the players for the horrendous showing of the Pakistan team. "People are not fools, the way they are treating Asad Shafiq despite his performances. There is no justification for playing Sohail Tanvir and Umar Amin today. You can see the signs that all is not well in the team. We need to clean up this system." Akhtar and Yousuf recommended the names of former skipper, Inzamam-ul-Haq and former Australian opener, Justin Langer to take over the mantle from Dav Whatmore. "In Pakistan, coaches with little international experience themselves never succeed. You need coaches like Inzamam or Langer who have played lot of cricket for their country and know what top cricket is all about. Tell me how many coaches with little international experience have been successful at the top level," Yousuf said. Akhtar added that Misbah was too defensive a captain and had inculcated a negative approach in the team. "We need to bring in honest, sincere and dedicated people into our system and management. People with narrow minds and personal agendas are ruining our cricket at every level and this culture is now visible in the team as well," said Akhtar. "Players are only worried about getting into the team and then about earning money and are not playing for personal and national pride," he said.