Dismissing skipper Rashid Latif as someone who cannot run the team for long, the legendary Imran Khan said Pakistan should start looking for a new, dynamic leader for the future.
Talking to reporters during his short visit to a cricket clinic at Peshawar on Wednesday, Imran suggested that "the next captain should be a bowler or an all-rounder who can understand how to field a bowler during the tough matches because placing of batsmen is obvious".
The cricketer-turned politician did not launch a direct attack on Latif but hinted that he lacked qualities of a good, aggressive skipper.
"We need to have a man who knows how to field the bowlers during the tough matches. The approach of the captain must be aggressive. He has to accept every challenge and should take bold decisions and should go all out for victory. The fighting and challenging approach is a key factor in crucial encounters," Imran said.
"I accept the qualities of Latif as a wicketkeeper but as captain, he cannot run the team for longer duration," Imran said.
Meanwhile, Latif has refused to comment on the statement of chief selector Aamir Sohail that the Pakistan team management was responsible for the team's defeat to England in a recent three-match one-day series.
"I don't want to make any comments. It is for the Board to look into this. The series is over and we were expecting such things. It is not a big surprise for us," Rashid was quoted as saying in the Pakistan daily The News.
Sohail had said in a statement that the decision of the team management to play so many all-rounders in the team had resulted in the 2-1 defeat.
Latif, who is currently in Birmingham, where he is staying with former captain Waqar Younis, also denied that he had spoken to or met with the chairman of the Board who is in London these days and complained to him about Sohail's statement.
"No. I have neither spoken to anyone nor met anyone. Since the series I have been vacationing in Birmingham with my family," he said.
Latif said he did not know what prompted Sohail's comments but he could say that everyone in the Pakistan team had tried very hard to win the series and there was no lack of commitment from anyone.
"The defeat at Lord's was heartbreaking but we went down fighting and showed we can challenge any team," he added.
Asked whether there was a lobby working against him, he said, "I didn't ask for the captaincy, but once the Board gave me this responsibility I have tried to do my best with a team, which is a blend of some experience and youth.
"I don't know why people are criticising my captaincy or want me out. It really does not bother me because they are also a lot of other people who have called me up and encouraged me and appreciated the hard work put up by the team."
