KARACHI, 20 April 2004 — Inzamam ul-Haq will remain as Pakistan captain despite the Test and one-day series defeats to India.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan said the PCB had confidence in Inzamam’s leadership skills and he would continue in the post for the rest of the year. “We had appointed him as captain for the year 2004 to introduce some consistency and continuity in the team and also to give him confidence. We will stick by that policy,” Khan told Reuters yesterday.
Pakistan have had 14 captaincy changes involving nine players in the last 10 years. Inzamam, 34, is Pakistan’s second captain since the World Cup in February-March 2003. Speculation had been rife in local media that, following the series defeat to arch-rivals India, the board would make wholesale changes to the team. The positions of captain and coach were believed to be on the line. Pakistan’s defeat in the one-dayers, which they lost 3-2 and the Test series (2-1) were the first at home to India.
Khan also ruled out major changes to the team. “There will be some changes but these would be done after having meetings with the management and the players and selectors. We are not going to jump the gun,” Khan said. “We are definitely concerned with the lack of effort on the part of the players in the final Test match, and with the numerous injury problems that hit the team, particularly Shoaib Akhtar,” he added.
The PCB has already announced that a medical commission will investigate the spate of injuries in the team during the series.
Ponting Disparages Lara’s Batting Record
In Sydney, West Indies captain Brian Lara was being selfish by staying at the crease to set a world record Test score of 400 runs against a resurgent England at Antigua last week, Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting said yesterday.
Lara’s mark trumped the 380 that Australian opener Matthew Hayden made against lowly Zimbabwe in Perth last October. Ponting accused the West Indies side of setting up their captain for a record attempt.
“It’s hard to imagine an Australian player doing it, just because of the way we play our cricket. It’s generally not the way we play,” Ponting told Australia’s AAP news agency.
“I’ve read some of the reports in the paper over the last couple of days about Lara’s innings. Their whole first innings might have been geared around one individual performance and they could have let a Test match slip because of it,” he added. “They ran out of time in the game — that’s not the way the Australian team plays.” But Ponting’s jibe could just as easily be directed at Hayden, who batted for over 10 hours against a pitiful Zimbabwean attack in a blatant bid to surpass Lara’s previous record of 375.
Hayden, having set a new record, didn’t leave the field undefeated as Lara did but batted on until he was given out.
“It was a very rare thing what we did with that Zimbabwean Test match, for Matty to be able to bat for as long as he did and go on and make that big score,” Ponting claimed.
“He was given the opportunity to go on and break Brian’s record and he did that. He was going to be given another half an hour, or 20 minutes, to try to get to 400 but unfortunately he got out.” Australia plays two Tests next month against the mostly amateur Zimbabwe side. An Australian, perhaps Ponting himself, might try and retake the title of biggest-hitting batsman.
