AHMEDABAD, India, 10 October 2006 — Banned Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq will not be able to play in the Champions Trophy final if his team qualifies, the International Cricket Council (ICC) ruled yesterday.
Inzamam, 36, was banned for four one-day internationals last month after being found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute following Pakistan’s decision to forfeit the controversial Oval Test against England.
Inzamam would have been eligible to play if Pakistan qualified for the final by winning their three league matches and the semifinal in the ongoing tournament in India.
But Pakistan’s decision to replace Inzamam with Faisal Iqbal for the early part of the tournament has dashed stand-in captain Younis Khan’s wish to have his country’s most prolific batsman for the final.
ICC spokesman Brian Murgatroyd told AFP that rules state that once a player is replaced he cannot be reinstated later in the tournament.
“Clause 6.9 of the participating agreement clearly states that,” Murgatroyd said. “I am afraid Inzy will not be able to play in this Champions Trophy.”
Younis, himself under the spotlight for initially refusing the captaincy for the tournament before finally accepting it the day Pakistan left for India, had hoped Inzamam would be able to play in the final.
“It will be really good if we win our first four games and then Inzy comes back,” Younis had told reporters on arrival in India last week.
“I will be ready to stand down as captain. I will be really happy to see him lift the Trophy while I am standing behind him. He has been one of my heroes right from the 1992 World Cup.”
Inzamam’s 11,549 runs make him the second highest scorer in one-day cricket after India’s Sachin Tendulkar and one of only four players to have crossed the 10,000-run mark.
