September 16, 2002	Monday	Rajab 8, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

COLOMBO, Sept 15: Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar says his team is in crisis following a string of poor performances which could cost him and skipper Waqar Younis their jobs.

The former Test batsman has been urgently summoned home by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after a defeat by Sri Lanka in the opening Champions Trophy game virtually knocked the side out of the 12-team competition in Colombo.

“I spoke to the General (PCB chairman Tauqir Zia) and he wanted me to take the first available flight out, to discuss something about team problems,” Mudassar said Sunday.

“It could mean the coach being changed, it could mean captain being changed. It could mean a new strategy for the team, new players,” he told reporters.

Mudassar said the team was struggling because of poor fitness levels which could affect their performance against Australia in the coming Tests at Colombo and Sharjah.

“There is a crisis, in the sense the team has done so well before the last three tournaments, won the majority of matches compared to the rest of the teams.

“But the drop has been pretty steep and has caught everyone by surprise. Once the slide started it has been very difficult to stem it.”

Pakistan recently roped in Australian physiotherapist Dennis Waight to improve fitness levels.

The side have suffered a blow before the Australia series with top batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq ruled out with a heel injury that looks likely to require a surgery.

The 32-year-old has been sidelined for the Champions Trophy, adding to the side’s batting woes.

Pakistan will also miss opener Saeed Anwar and Wasim Akram when they take on the formidable Australia, both the experienced players opting to mull over their future international careers.

Saeed’s absence could throw the opening combination into further uncertainty because young Imran Nazir is out of form.

Inzamam’s injury could also threaten his place in the World Cup, Mudassar said.

“It looks like one or two forced changes (in the team against Australia). Inzamam is not fit,” he said Sunday.

The 32-year-old batsman has been struggling with the injury in the last few months and was sidelined for Pakistan’s opening pool match against Sri Lanka.

Inzamam has emerged as Pakistan’s most dependable run-getter in the last two seasons and hit 329 against New Zealand in May to register the 10th highest score in Test history.

He is expected to consult a specialist in the next few days, according to Mudassar. “If he wants to undergo an operation, to be pretty honest he might have to, there is a chance he might miss the World Cup,” he said.

Mudassar said Inzamam, who also had knee surgery in Australia some time ago, had been told by doctors then that his heel might just hold up until the World Cup.

Mudassar said the inability to play at home owing to security problems was also taking its toll on the players.

New Zealand were the last team to tour Pakistan in May this year, but abandoned the trip on the morning of the second Test in Karachi after a bomb blast outside their hotel killed 14 people.

“It has affected us a lot, the younger players in particular. We don’t get the breather we need and the Pakistan public is starved of seeing its heroes.”

Pakistan are not scheduled to host a home Test series until after the February-March World Cup in South Africa, when India are due to arrive in April.

But the tour is in doubt because the Indian government has refused permission for bilateral tours owing to political tension between the neighbours.—Reuters