KARACHI: An evaluation committee issued a demand on Sunday for Pakistan cricket coach Intikhab Alam and captain Mohammad Yousuf to explain the team’s dismal performance on their tour of Australia.
Pakistan lost all their matches on the tour — the Tests by 3-0 and one-day matches by 5-0 before going down in the only Twenty20 match on Friday.
The results have prompted an investigation by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
Former captain Wasim Bari, who is the PCB’s chief operating officer, and includes another former captain, Wasim Akram, in place of Haroon Rasheed, who was originally named as a member, heads the six-man committee.
The others on the board are PCB governing Board member Wazir Ali Khoja, PCB director Zakir Khan, former team manager Yawar Saeed and PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi.
Bari said the committee will start its work this coming Friday.
“We are starting our evaluation work from Friday and on the first day coach Alam and manager Raqeeb have been invited and the following day our captain Yousuf will appear,” Bari said.
Pakistan have a history of probing their defeats, having also initiated inquiries over the team’s first round exit from the 50-over World Cups in the West Indies three years ago and in South Africa in 2003.
Earlier Pakistan coach Alam took full responsibility for the team’s dismal show, and vowed not to run away from any investigation.
“I will not run away and will face an investigation,” said Alam after the team returned home on Sunday. “I am not going to comment on any resignation but I take full responsibility for the defeat.”
Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf, who returned to Pakistan on Wednesday, vowed to continue as skipper despite a hint from the PCB that there will be a change of captaincy.
Bari said the terms of references of the committee included match performance, player discipline and any other issue relating to the tour of Australia.
The committee will also probe all-rounder Shahid Afridi’s ball-tampering case in the fifth and final one-day in Perth last Sunday.
Afridi, leading Pakistan in the match in place of rested Yousuf, was caught biting the ball on two separate occasions. He was banned for two Twenty20 matches.
Asif not cleared
Meanwhile, Pakistani paceman Mohammad Asif will not be able to play in the United Arab Emirates as its authorities have refused to revoke a travel ban on him, an official said Sunday.
The 27-year-old Asif was deported from the United Arab Emirates after being detained at Dubai airport last June when a small quantity of opium was found in his possession.
The fast bowler was detained for 19 days before the authorities deported him, saying the quantity of the banned drug was insignificant to make a court case.
Asif was on his way from India after featuring in the first edition of the Indian Premier League, where he tested positive for a banned drug. That earned him a one-year ban from all cricket, which ended in September last year.
Pakistan Cricket Board chief operating officer Wasim Bari confirmed a request was made to clear Asif.
Pakistan will be playing England in two Twenty20 matches later this month and some other series are also lined up, “so we made a request with the UAE authorities but they turned it down as it’s not possible under their laws,” Bari said.
A similar request was also made last year and was also refused, said Bari.
Pakistan has also invited South Africa for a Test and one-day series later in the year in the UAE, after South Africa refused to tour the troubled country in October-November this year due to security concerns.
Asif has been Pakistan’s most successful bowler since his return. He took 19 wickets in the three-Test series in New Zealand and another 13 in as many Tests against Australia on the tour, which ended on Friday.
Bari said Asif would not be considered for the selection of the two Twenty20 matches, for which the team will be announced on Monday.
‘Weakest Australian team’
In another development, Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has described the Australian team as one of the weakest he has seen in years.
“This is one of the weakest Australian teams I have seen play, they are still recovering from the loss of some great players but they are surviving because of their strong domestic structure,” Imran said during a cricket show on Geo New Channel on Sunday.
Pakistan suffered a whitewash on their recent tour of Australia.
Imran, who played 88 Tests and 175 one-day internationals, said the biggest problem affecting Pakistan cricket was a weak domestic structure. “That is why we are not thriving despite having so much raw talent. We should have beaten this Australian team in the recent series,” he said.
