Pakistan: Search begins for a stand-bye captain (31 December 1998)

31 December 1998

Pakistan: Search begins for a stand-bye captain

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, Dec 30: Pakistan opener Saeed Anwar was being considered as the stand-bye captain for the forthcoming Pakistan's tour of India. According to highly placed sources, lobbying has started to appoint Wasim Akram as captain. But with the judicial commission's report yet to be released, the cricket authorities have started searching for a stand-bye captain.

According to sources, Saeed Anwar was approached by a top ranking Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official on Tuesday to seek his consent.

However, Anwar was not willing to reveal the details of his meeting with the PCB official.

"As the situation stands at present, if I am offered captaincy, I would accept it," Saeed Anwar said from Lahore on Wednesday.

The PCB executive council meets on Jan 3 to appoint the Pakistan team management along with the captain.

Saeed Anwar led Pakistan in the three-Test series against South Africa last season which the home team lost 1-0.

Wicket-keeper Moin Khan, who skippered the team in the second Test against Zimbabwe at Lahore, has been ruled out for the job by the cricket bosses. That school of thought believes that by appointing wicket-keeper as captain, there was no room for the second wicket-keeper.

Interestingly, that same school of thought had appointed Rashid Latif as captain for the African safari earlier this year. Moin Khan was selected in the team as a specialist batsmen - a role he successfully played at Port Elizabeth (South Africa) and Harare.

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)