Misbah backed by PCB

Karachi - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has backed the country's beleaguered test and one-day international skipper Misbah-ul-Haq to retain his role until the next 50-overs World Cup in 2015.

Sethi's public show of support on Thursday provides a welcome boost for the 39-year-old batsman, who has come under increasing criticism for the team's poor performances in the short and long form of the game this year.

Several former players and critics have called for a change of leadership with previous test skipper Rameez Raja describing Misbah's captaincy as "spineless" after Pakistan lost a test match to Zimbabwe in September.

"PCB chairman Najam Sethi reiterates that Misbah enjoys his full confidence and should continue to remain captain until at least the World Cup in 2015," the board said in a statement published in the Dawn newspaper on Thursday.

"The chairman had earlier said in a public statement that Misbah would remain captain until at least the 2015 World Cup and had never contradicted himself or reversed his position," the statement added.