March 12, 2002	Tuesday	Zilhaj 27, 1422

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KARACHI, March 11: Former captain Imran Khan has said he jumped into ball tampering controversy in 1992 because the all-conquering duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis were put under tremendous pressure from all around and no one in Pakistan, not even the cricket board, stood up to defend the country’s reputation.

Appearing in a PTV programme An Evening With A Star Sunday evening, directed and produced by Sultana Siddiqui, the legend said that was the time when Wasim and Waqar were at the peak of their careers and had steamrolled all opposition on the England tour as well.

The British media and experts could not digest it and tried to belittle it by making allegations of ball tampering.

As a person with deep insight and background of county cricket, he jumped into the fray claiming that ‘treatment’ of the ball had been going on for decades and was also rampant all over the world.

However, in order to highlight the difference between legitimate and illegitimate treatment of the seam, he said, he narrated the incident when he used the bottle top during a county match.

Not unexpectedly, he said, law suits were filed by Alan Lamb and Ian Botham and the fact that the court upheld his plea proved his point. “We have not heard of it ever again,” he said with a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

As for criticizm that he walked into Pakistan team without playing domestic cricket, Imran said he had been playing county cricket but purposely stayed out of Pakistan domestic cricket because he totally disagreed with its format.

Domestic cricket in Pakistan is wholly different from other countries. Here sponsors and promoters have raised teams and are the main contenders for the title. Regions/provinces have receded into background. Among other things, it has caused serious setback to the cause of cricket.

Answering another question, Imran was of the view that the advent of one-day cricket had injected the element of gambling and match fixing into the game, adding that no country was free from it.

For Imran the most cherished movements in his 21-year career were the home series against India in 1982-83, the victory over the neighbours at Bangalore in 1987 and the World Cup success of 1992.

“The most disappointing moment for me was the the defeat against Australia at Lahore in the semifinals of 1987 World Cup, I could not stomach that result for a long time,” said Imran.

When questioned who were his favourite players he named Australians Ian Chappell as captain, Dennis Lillee amongst the bowlers, his own protege Wasim Akram as the most talented cricketer and Inzamam-ul-Haq the best batsman of his day.