Shahid Afridi to captain Pakistan in World Cup

Pakistan has decided to retain one-day captain Shahid Afridi to lead the team in the coming World Cup after seriously mulling the option of giving the job to Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. Intikhab Alam, Pakistan team manager, on Friday confirmed that Afridi had been chosen as Pakistan’s World Cup captain. A formal announcement will be made by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt.

Butt had earlier delayed naming the captain but it was known it would be a toss up between Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq, who led Pakistan to a rare Test series triumph in New Zealand last month.

Pakistan was the only country among the 14 World Cup participants which did not name its captain while announcing its 15-man squad in January. The World Cup starts on February 19 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The decision to continue with Afridi comes after he guided Pakistan to a one-day series victory in New Zealand by winning the fifth ODI in Hamilton on Thursday.