Pakistan captains and their ill fate

Almost all of Pakistan captains have faced the axe after losing a series to India. Here's a brief sketch of former top stars and skippers being replaced after losing series to their arch-rivals.

Asif Iqbal in 1979-80: Middle-order batsman Asif Iqbal not only had a poor run with the bat, making just 267 runs in six matches, but also Lost the Test series by 0-2 margin in India. His controversial declaration at 272 for four in reply to India's 331 in the last Test match at Kolkata was the subject of much debate and discussion. He was replaced by the current coach Javed Miandad.

Zaheer Abbas in 1983-84: India's World Cup winning eleven continued their successful run in two matches against Pakistan at Hyderabad and Jaipur, both of which were reduced from 50 to 46 overs due to slow over rates, forced one - down batsman Zaheer Abbas to relinquish the captaincy. He was replaced by Imran Khan for the Benson & Hedges World Series Down Under in the same season.

Wasim Akram in 1995-96: One of the leading all-rounders in world cricket and regular skipper Wasim Akram opted out of the crucial quarter-final match of the Wills World Cup against India at Bangalore. He decided to skip the game at the last moment under mysterious circumstances as Pakistan lost the match by 39 runs to be ousted from the tourney. Akram was replaced by opener Aamir Sohail.

Ramiz Raja in 1997-98: The regular outing in Toronto for the Sahara Cup witnessed Pakistan being outclassed by India by 4-1 margin in the six-match series. Pakistan were then led by the now CEO Ramiz Raja.

When India toured Pakistan after along gap of almost eight years for their neighbors' Golden Jubilee celebrations, Ramiz Raja, the previous week's captain had already been dropped with yet another opener Saeed Anwar replacing him.

Waqar Younis in 2002-03: The match of the tournament between India and Pakistan at the Centurion during the World Cup, resulted in Pakistan's humiliating defeat by six wickets margin . Pakistan thus couldn't qualify for the Super Six while India finished as runners-up. Fast bowler and skipper Waqar Younis was ousted and replaced by wicket-keeper Rashid Latif.