Shoaib Malik's uninspiring captaincy during the one-day series against India on Saturday came under a scathing attack from former Pakistan cricketers with Javed Miandad even demanding his ouster, saying a senior player should be given the responsibility.
The former players blamed Malik's 'unilateral decisions' for the series loss and called for more powers for the selectors to decide on the final combination.
"He is doing what he wants to do. The selection committee has given him a squad but he has not bothered to play the youngsters at all. The selectors gave him four specialist openers and yet he has opted to open with makeshift openers like Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and now himself," said Miandad, a former captain and three-time national coach.
The former batting great said the Cricket Board needed to make a senior player the captain.
"Unless a player is assured of his place in the team with his performances how can he lead the team with confidence? Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf have been performing consistently and in my book one of them should be given the responsibility of the captaincy," he said.
Miandad also said the selectors should be given more authority to impose their decisions on the captain.
"This way they can also be held accountable for their actions. The captain's job is to do his best with the players available to him," he added.
Malik was a surprise choice to lead the team after the 2007 World Cup when Inzamam-ul Haq stepped down as captain and retired from one-day internationals.
The Board earlier this month retained Malik as Test and one-day captain until 2008.
Pakistan and India play the final one-dayer in Jaipur on Sunday but the hosts have already wrapped up the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Other players questioned Malik's decision to bat first at a venue where the dew factor has always played an influential role in deciding the outcome of the match.
Former captain, Rashid Latif said he was surprised by Malik's decision and the constant shuffling in the batting order.
"But even apart from this one decision Malik has not looked the part of a confident leader. His body language is bad. This has a bad effect on the other players. I can't understand some of their decisions. They took four openers to India and yet didn't try out Yasir Hameed and Imran Nazir.
"I also don't understand why they couldn't play Fawad Alam in place of Abdul Rehman as he is a better batsman and sharp fielder."
Latif said Malik was clearly not getting things right and there appeared to be no stability in the team.
"The selectors need to be given a more decisive role in every matter so that the captain is answerable for his decisions. Unfortunately, even the coach has appeared to have no role to play in this series," Latif said.
Former pacer Aaqib Javed said he was not impressed by Malik's captaincy and the Pakistani players had just not been positive enough against the Indians.
"Even their captain Dhoni has said our (Pakistan) team lacked the positive attitude and spirit which was the hallmark of our teams that went to India in the past and won there," he noted.
He said faulty selections and senior players refusing to take charge had led to the one-day series defeat.
Former captain and coach, Mushtaq Mohammad said he was surprised at the lethargic way the Pakistani players had played in the series.
"That usual intensity when we play India has been missing. We have never been in the series apart from Mohali and some of the decisions have been surprising. But Malik is young and must learn quickly. We can make amends in Tests."
