MELBOURNE, 26 December 2004 — Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul Haq has ruled himself out of the second Test against Australia starting today due to a back injury.
“I have been advised to rest for three weeks by doctors. My back is sore and hurting,” he told Reuters by telephone after undergoing medical tests.
His absence in Melbourne will be a big blow for Pakistan, who were crushed by the world champions by 491 runs in the first Test. The captain, however, had a wretched time in Perth, dismissed for one in the first innings and, clearly in pain, a duck in the second.
Inzamam said he was not yet sure about playing in the third and final Test in Sydney. Pakistan are then due to take part in a triangular one-day tournament against Australia and West Indies.
Meanwhile, Australia will start its bid for a 300th Test win when it takes on Pakistan today, a special day in the national sports calendar Down Under when the Melbourne Cricket Ground hosts the annual Boxing Day match.
Ricky Ponting’s Australians thrashed Pakistan by 491 runs in Perth last week and lead the three-Test series 1-0 ahead of the second fixture at the MCG.
The only problem for the Australians, besides the celebrations for Christmas and national holiday on the eve of the five-day match, will be the possible absence of opener Justin Langer. Langer scored a combined 288 runs at the WACA in Perth (191 and 97), more than the entire Pakistan batting lineup compiled in two innings (179 and 72).
He injured his back during fielding practice and is likely to be replaced by Simon Katich, who has been overlooked for the starting XI since returning from the 2-1 series win in India with 256 in five innings batting at No. 3.
If Langer doesn’t play, it will end a 42-match sequence with opening partner Matthew Hayden that has dominated international cricket.
Langer leads the 2004 Test scoring list with 1,426 runs and remains hopeful of playing, with team medical staff leaving a decision on his fitness until the morning of the match.
“It’s disappointing if we couldn’t go into this match with our strongest side, but as you’ve seen in the past, the guys who have come in and replaced injured players or players out of form have usually been successful right from the word go,” said Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Ponting said Katich had overcome the disappointment of being fired twice this year and was confident the 29-year-old could handle the new ball against Pakistan pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami if Langer is ruled out.
“He’s certainly one that’s always in the selectors’ minds and he was the unlucky one to be left out early in the summer, so he’ll slot back in nicely and I’m sure he’ll do a good job.”
Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was confident his players would produce a better showing in Melbourne, where they’re more familiar with the conditions.
“They’re not down, they’re very hurt,” Woolmer said. But, “I’ve seen them rebound from situations like this.
“They’re very disappointed in themselves and they now know they have to come out and fight hard and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Australia won the last head-to-head in Melbourne, by 92 runs in 1989-90, and has a good track record in this southern port city, where it won the first of its Test matches — a 45-run defeat of England in March 1877. Since then, Australia improved its record in 660 Tests to 299 wins, 176 losses and 183 draws.
Pakistan’s win-loss ratio in Test matches (54.65) is second only to Australia (62.68) and Woolmer said the proud record won’t be too badly damaged by the loss in Perth.
Pakistan lost the bulk of its wickets to catches behind the wicket at the WACA ground, where the batsmen failed to acclimatize to the extra pace of the pitch against Glenn McGrath, who took 8-24 in the second innings, and Michael Kasprowicz, who had 5-30 in the first innings.
“The game doesn’t change, it was just on a particular situation in Perth we played loosely outside off stump and paid dearly for it and that was the difference,” Woolmer said. “So there’s not massive technical changes, we’re not changing people’s techniques ... we’re just trying to keep it very simple.”
Woolmer hasn’t settled on a starting XI, although captain Inzamam-ul Haq has been declared a certain starter despite complaining of a lower back problem.
Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who injured his left shoulder in a fielding accident in Perth, is also expected to play. Woolmer has said Pakistan will have to look at options to speed up its over rate because Akhtar has refused to shorten his run-up.
