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Captain Mohammad Hafeez

PAKISTAN’S newly appointed Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez on Thursday (May 17) called for trust and a good environment in the dressing room ahead of next month’s tour of Sri Lanka.

The talented team often makes headlines over rows between the players and a volatile dressing room atmosphere, but Hafeez said he would continue the good example set by Misbah-ul Haq.

Misbah, dropped from the Twenty20 squad but retained as one-day and Test captain for the Sri Lankan tour, is credited with uniting the team after a 2010 spot-fixing scandal saw Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer banned and jailed.

“It’s not a team of any individual and we all trust each other and I think the way Misbah has settled the atmosphere of the team - you will see that this tour will be very positive,” Hafeez told reporters.

Hafeez also faces the challenge of leading a team which has two former captains in Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi, often difficult for the incumbent skipper.

“What I have discussed with T20 players is that I am trying to give them full confidence, unfortunately after one or two performances we start thinking that a player does not deserve to have a place in the team,” he said.

“I will try to make a good environment for them in the dressing room and give players, like Malik and Khalid (Latif) trust.”

Pakistan opens the tour with a Twenty20 in Hambantota on June 1. The two Twenty20 matches will be followed by five one-day and three Tests.

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