With uncertainty looming large over who will lead Pakistan in the upcoming World Cup,PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has flown to New Zealand to witness the ODI series and is also expected to discuss the captaincy issue with the players and team management there. "Yes Butt has left for New Zealand and will be there for the one-day series," a source in the Pakistan Cricket Board said. He conceded that during his stay in New Zealand,the PCB chief would be talking to the team management about the World Cup preparations. But another source said that the main purpose behind Butt's visit was to meet with the players and team officials and form a consensus on the captain's name. Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq and ODI captain Shahid Afridi are the front-runners for the post with indications that the PCB has not got favorable feedback about the latter from within the team. "Apparently Butt himself wants to observe how things are in the team and how Afridi handles the team in the ODI series. But the announcement of the captain will only come after the first three or four matches of the series," the source disclosed. Meanwhile,the PCB is also waiting for a reply from the team's head coach Waqar Younis on the notice issued to him for his recent statement that he was surprised by the board's decision to delay the appointment of the captain for the World Cup. "The board has spoken to manager Intikhab Alam and they are expecting a reply from Waqar by Wednesday," one source said. He said the board had taken offence to Waqar's statement as speaking on the captaincy was not in his jurisdiction. "Even if he speaks on selection matters it is understandable but speaking on the captaincy is not his right and he has to adhere to the code of conduct for officials and players," the source said. The former captain guided Pakistan to its first Test series win since 2006 when the visitors beat New Zealand 1-0 in the just concluded two-match series.
