It’s been an eventful last seven days, with more than normal share of good and bad news. Or should I say great and disappointing news. No, make that wonderful and not-so-surprising news from the international and domestic fronts, respectively.

The former is of course the qualification of Lahore Lions into the mainstream Champions League Twenty20 in India. It’s been heartening to see that a politically fractured nation has combined as one behind one city’s team. Was it the Indian factor? I doubt it. The nation would have been glued to the television even if this had been a qualification into the Big Bash League of Australia, perhaps the second biggest after India’s IPL.

Of course they almost messed it up a la Pakistan style. After all, the batting order fronted by Ahmed Shahzad, Nasir Jamshed, Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Akmal could have passed for the national side. So would a bowling side including Aizaz Cheema, Wahab Riaz and again Hafeez. But then I am talking here about the masters of collapses. Further focused, you can see that it was blow-hot-blow-cold over two days of separate games.

Let us ignore that the Lions were fortunate in that Mumbai Indians were rusty and made the ignominious decision of leaving out Corey Anderson from all the qualifying games. It was a mind-boggling decision, considering his prowess in the shorter format and notwithstanding the memory of his world record hundred. They were led by an out-of-sorts Pollard, who, in the Lions match, ate up too many deliveries and then bowled a terrible over of meaty half-pitched medium paced stuff, which brought the Lions back in the game when they appeared to have left the chase a little late.

In the end, some substandard bowling from arm swingers who are either in their twilight like Harbhajan or half-baked, slow young men plus a Malinga carrying an injury gave the Lions room to counterattack. But that shouldn’t take away from some fine batting from Umar Akmal in the first and Hafeez in the game against the Southern Express from Sri Lanka.

In each of the two games they won, both these batsmen made their riches mainly off one over bowled by a lesser known bowler. That has glossed over the fact that they are fair-weather batsmen and that when it comes to facing a more organised, intelligent and penetrative bowling attack and a climbing run rate they are brutally exposed for the lack of technique, application and strength of mind.

Some big tests await them. They have to play against the world’s strongest club sides. But it has to be said that the bowling attack of Cheema, Wahab, Hafeez and Adnan Rasool can cause the best batsmen of the world some trepidation. Let’s hope that the first team from Pakistan to qualify for the Champions League comes home raising the cup.

Hafeez failed as a leader of men while captaining Pakistan and there is perhaps none more critical of him than I. But I would give anything to see him as the winning captain here.

We have our disagreements, but we should all unite behind our own when they fight the foreigners, especially on foreign lands.

Back within own borders is where we find the ‘not-so-surprising’ happenings of the past week. Shahid Afridi, ‘the lion-hearted’, returns as skipper of the T20 side. Once again it is a decision that splits the cricket followers. Rightly piqued are those who point to his growing impotence in bowling (he wasn’t able to get a wicket even against the FATA batsmen on the opening day of the National T20 Cup for Regions in his hometown Karachi, a day after he was announced Pakistan captain).

His detractors also complain of reckless batting resulting in single digit scores and early dismissals, an arrogant attitude towards authority and inability to command a place in the final eleven in any format. He departed having played a careless shot when the Dolphins were still at a dicey stage chasing FATA’s impressive 141. His detractors further point to it as being a regressive step considering his age and past problems as leader.  I agree that these are valid concerns, but it has to be said that appointing someone like Sohaib Maqsood or Fawad Alam would have stymied their still embryonic settlement and acceptance within the national side. Sohaib has recently entered and Fawad is making a comeback. Loading them with extra burden of uniting a set of players who feel threatened by them or consider them as their juniors would have been suicidal. Ahmed Shahzad soured his case with that quip to Dilshan.

Where I am critical of Shaharyar Khan in cricketing insights or organisational matters which I feel he has no experience of, I believe that by rejecting Sohaib, Fawad and Shahzad for the captaincy at this stage he has made a better choice, at least under the circumstances. Shahzad is temperamental and is still in the process of reining in his arrogance. I feel he would have fallen on his sword in no time when his own teammates would have rebelled against his brashness just as the lot of Waqar Younis, Rashid Latif, Inzamam, Saeed Anwar, Aamer Sohail, Aaqib Javed, Mushtaq Ahmed did against Wasim Akram a year into his captaincy back in 1994.

Afridi, therefore, is a ‘satisficing’ choice as we say in management. I feel he has some leadership traits that can serve Pakistan cricket and the members of the national team well. He is not fearful of defeat, oozes optimism, has respect among the junior players, has a better relationship going with coach Waqar Younis and does tend to read the game when it is stuck. The only difference now is that with such a woeful personal performance with the bat and ball, he may not be able to rescue his side on his own as he did in game after game of the 2011 World Cup. That is something that he has to realise, and improve upon. Otherwise he may find his charisma running out on a new chairman desperate to show himself as a tough old man.