ISLAMABAD, 18 March 2004 — The ICC match referee, Ranjan Madugalle, fined Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq 80 percent of his match fee for slow over-rate in the second one-day match against India, played here on Tuesday.

The ICC official also penalized the entire Pakistan team 15 percent of their fees for bowling three overs short in the match.

Inzamam also faces a ban of two to four Tests — or four to eight One-Day Internationals — if he’s found guilty of a similar offense over the next one year the match referee warned.

This is the second time in as many matches on the current Indian tour that Inzamam has been fined for slow over-rate.

Both he and Indian skipper Saurav Ganguly were fined 20 percent of their match fees for falling two overs short in the first match at Karachi on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) yesterday included young left-hand opener Taufiq Umer in the team for the third one-day match against India in Peshawar. The chairman of the selection committee, former captain-wicketkeeper Wasim Bari announced the decision in Islamabad yesterday.

Umer,22, who led the Pakistan A side in the warmup match against India in Lahore on March 11, scored a match winning 104 against the visitors.

Meanwhile, Delhi medium pacer Amit Bhandari, who will replace injured Ashish Nehra, will arrive tomorrow. “Bhandari has been picked by India’s selection committee as replacement for Nehra and he will be reaching here on Friday,” team manager Ratnakar Shetty said.

Bhandari, 25, has taken two wickets in two ODIs. “Ashish is now out for at least two weeks,” Shetty said. “He has got several stitches in the webbing of his hand and since it is the soft spot, it would require two weeks to heal.”

Shetty said that Bhandari would be available for the fourth and fifth ODIs at Lahore on March 21 and 24.

A decision on whether Bhandari would stay in Pakistan, or whether Nehra would return for the three Test matches that follow the one-dayers, would be taken later Shetty added.

Concentrate on Taking Wickets,

Miandad Tells Bowlers

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad, meanwhile, has told his bowlers to concentrate on taking wickets rather than containing India’s batsmen for the remainder of their run-filled one-day series. Pakistan leveled it at 1-1 on Tuesday with a thrilling 12-run win over the touring team.

“I feel sorry for the bowlers on both sides. The pitches have been perfect for batting and they’ve had to struggle against quality batsmen,” Miandad said yesterday. “In conditions where batsmen are so comfortable playing strokes, the best line of defense is to take wickets even though the bowlers might go for some runs in the process.”

Miandad believes the series is still wide open.

“The bowlers have to bowl in limited conditions. Last night, I thought Shoaib (Akhtar) and (Mohammad) Sami bowled their hearts out and got crucial wickets even when Sachin Tendulkar was batting so well,” he said. - Additional input from Agencies