AAJ TV : Pakistan Ki Awaz

ISLAMABAD : Ramiz Raja former Pakistan captain has expressed all rounder Shahid Afridi as the 'best man to lead' the team in the forthcoming T20 World Championship in the Caribbean and said the flashy cricketer should be appointed skipper for all the three forms of the game.

"I'll go with Afridi as captain. In fact, I'll recommend Afridi for all three formats, "Raja was quoted in a statement saying at cricket.yahoo.com.

Gossip is there that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is hesitant to continue with Afridi as captain of the T20 team after he was punished for ball-tampering during the fifth and last one-day international against Australia at Perth.

However, Raja backed Afridi, saying he has already been punished for his act.

"If that's the reason to overlook him as captain then I don't agree with it. He has been punished already. In any case, I think ball-tampering is no big deal. It's only that Afridi did it in a silly manner, probably in the pressure of the moment," Raja said.

"I personally believe that Its Afridi's chance. It's his time. He can handle the pressure. He was the best player of the World Twenty20 final last year. The only thing that he needs is to relax as captain. Once he does that, I'm sure he can get the best out of our team," he said.

The PCB is considering giving the captaincy to Shoaib Malik or Abdul Razzaq but Raja said it won't be a wise move.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2010