Misbah says won’t retire from T20 cricket despite axe from team, captaincy

Lahore -  Pakistan cricket captain Misbah-ul Haq, who has been dropped from the Twenty20 squad, has said he will not retire from T20 cricket despite the snub.

Misbah will now lead the side in the one-day and Test series.

“I have not decided to retire from the T20 and will play at domestic level to stage a comeback,” the Daily Times quoted Misbah, as saying.

38-year-old Misbah, who has led Pakistan in all three formats since last year after Shahid Afridi was sacked as captain of the ODI and T20 sides, said he was not disappointed at losing the T20  captaincy or his place in the team.

“Whatever the selectors and board thinks right, they have done it. I am not disheartened. My job is to still focus on leading the side well in Tests and ODIs which remains a major  responsibility,” he said.

Pakistan Cricket Board chief Zaka Ashraf said the board appreciates the good work done by Misbah since last year, but needed to move on.

“Misbah served Pakistan cricket with pride and he is doing his best for the team and he has also endorsed the decision to appoint Hafeez as T20 captain. The whole world is experimenting  with different teams for different formats of the game, and that’s what we are doing now. You need players of different temperaments for all the three formats,” Zaka said.

Pakistan will play two T20s, five ODIs and three Tests between June 1 and July 12 in Sri Lanka.