'Seeing this for the first time. India are repeating Pakistan's mistake from 1990s': Ex-PAK captain's warning for BCCI
The former Pakistan captain had an ominous warning for Team India after the BCCI announced the squad for three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe.
India's squad for three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe was announced on Saturday, with Shikhar Dhawan continuing to lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma (rest). It was a fairly young squad with a host of first-teamers being rested for the series; they would likely return for the Asia Cup, scheduled to start merely four days after the completion of Zimbabwe ODIs. While it was expected that the senior players would rest for the series, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif fears that India are repeating Pakistan's mistakes in the 1990s.
Talking about the constant shuffling of captains over the past few months, Latif said that Pakistan used to do something similar in the 90s and it hurt their side. The former Pakistan wicketkeeper, who himself had led the side in in 2003 (6 Tests and 25 ODIs), stated that India are focussing more on leadership than the other aspects of the game.
“Everyone talks about backup. But they have now produced seven backup captains in the past year! This is the first time I'm seeing this in India's history. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah... they are repeating the same mistake as Pakistan's in the 1990s,” Latif said on his YouTube channel Caught Behind.
“They haven't found a solid opener, nor do they have a stable middle-order. They just want a new captain. No captain is playing consistently for them. KL Rahul is unfit now, Rohit was unfit before. Virat is mentally unfit. So, they will have to think about it. They are changing so many captains.. they need a leader like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli,” the former Pakistan cricketer further said.
Team India is currently in the West Indies where the side is taking part in a five-match T20I series. Having already clean-swept the Windies 3-0 in the ODIs, India registered a comprehensive 68-run win in the first T20I on Friday and will return to action on August 1 for the second match of the five-game rubber.