September 8, 2003	Monday	Rajab 10, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

LAHORE, Sept 7: Former Pakistan Test skipper and manager Intikhab Alam on Sunday blamed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, as the man responsible for plummeting the country’s cricket to its lowest ebb and declared there was no chance whatsoever of Pakistan putting up a strong team against South Africa in the next home series starting from Sept 26.

Talking to Dawn, Intikhab claimed that Pakistan’s present batting and bowling resources did not have potential to deliver the goods against the Proteas.”If Bangladesh could take lead against this bowling attack and if their bowlers could bowl us out twice, then what the South Africans will do is anybody’s guess”, Intikhab remarked.

He was surprised at PCB chairman’s statement that any club cricket team could have done well against Bangladesh in the third Test which Pakistan won by one wicket.

“His  remarks  are  right  but  the  point  is  this  who  is responsible  for all the mess, who appointed the selection  committee, captain and coach,”? he asked.

“If  you pick a wrong person for any post the result  will not be different than what it presently is”, Intikhab slammed.

He  said that after the poor performance of Pakistan in  the last World Cup, PCB sacked many deserving players with one stroke and decided to rebuild the team.

“Rebuilding process will take three to four years, provided you adopt a logical approach in picking and dropping of players.”

“What is the rationale behind introducing too many cricketers and also sacking them without giving them a proper chance”, he asked.

He was surprised how Inzamam escaped from the PCB’s chopping block after the World Cup and has now made a spectacular comeback.

Intikhab, a non-controversial individual, said that the decision of giving Yousaf Youhana a rest from the Multan Test was also illogical and beyond comprehension. “It would have been the darkest day in the history of Pakistan cricket if Bangladesh had won the Multan Test.

He said that PCB had no choice in any reshuffling  in the team as it had nothing in the pipeline.”Lack of experience and match-winning players were the two basic reasons behind Bangladesh’s loss at Multan, otherwise the Pakistani players had set the stage for them to win”, said the man who managed and coached Pakistan’s World Cup-1992 winning side .

He said that the standard of cricket of Pakistan was deteriorating rapidly.

To a question, Intikhab said that until and unless domestic cricket is revived in the country, the standard of the game can not improve. “The academies can’t groom quality cricketers, it is only competitive domestic cricket which can produce talented players”, he said.

He suggested the promotion of Inter-region cricket in domestic cricket adding that district associations should also be revised.

Commenting on the decision to ban Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif for the five one day-internationals for his unsporting act against Alok Kapali in the second innings at Multan, Intikhab commented that Rashid’s action was considered cheating, but question arises why Proctor took the action at Bangladesh’s request instead of taking notice directly.