|
|
| 03 October 2004 | Sunday | 17 Shaban 1425 |
Pakistan sweat over Inzamam and Moin's fitness
PESHAWAR, Oct 2: Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq was on Saturday undecided about playing in Sunday's tri-series match against Zimbabwe at the Arbab Niaz Stadium.
Inzamam, who suffered a groin injury while batting during Pakistan s opening match at Multan on Thursday, told journalists that although he was getting better, he had not decided as yet on playing on Sunday.
"I will undergo treatment later in the evening and only then will I make up my mind," said Inzamam who made it clear that it was the groin that was troubling him and not the back.
Pakistan bidding to win their first one-day title at home, in a competition that also features Sri Lanka, are likely to rest paceman Shoaib Akhtar.
"We would like to give all the 15 players a chance in this tournament, so we might not play one or two key players, it could be Shoaib or somebody else," the Pakistan captain added.
The home team is now wary of the Zimbabwe side that reduced them to 36 for four in the opening match before Inzamam and Abdul Razzaq staged a rescue act to guide Pakistan to a 144-run victory.
"If you take international matches lightly, then you are bound to run into such problems," said Inzamam who scored 73 in that game with Man-of-the-Match Razzaq striking an unconquered 107.
Inzamam backed Shoaib Malik for the No 3 spot, pointing out that although he had not done well in the last few matches, he was confident that the batsman would score runs in the games ahead.
He said that this Zimbabwe side could become strong opponents if they continued to work hard and got enough playing opportunities. "Cricket is not anyone's domain, whosoever puts in more effort will succeed."
Zimbabwe who have struggled following a rebellion by 15 white players that led to the suspension of their Test status, are hoping to pull off at least one victory in this competition. They have now gone 11 matches without a win.
"Yes, I think, beating Pakistan or Sri Lanka is possible," their young captain Tatenda Taibu told a news conference.
"All we need to do is to make sure we do things that we can control well and if we could catch them on the back foot, then an upset would be available.
"The mood in the Zimbabwe camp was good and the tourists had nets at the venue of the match. We are hoping to do the same things we did in the first match where we bowled pretty well and obviously improve in areas in which we did not do well," said Taibu who at 20 became the youngest ever captain in April this year.
He stressed that his team did not do anything wrong after pinning down the Pakistan top order in Multan. "To start with, Inzamam played really well, he set them to a good position. Then (Shahid) Afridi and Razzaq hit out, but in saying that we also dropped a few catches that didn't help."
Meanwhile, the wicket at the stadium, termed good by Inzamam could support quality new ball bowlers and also appears to have plenty of runs in it.
The weather in Peshawar was quite pleasant all day on Saturday following overnight rain and the organizers were expecting a large crowd at the venue that last hosted India in April.
Mmeanwhile, Pakistan have called up wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal as a backup for Moin Khan for the second match of a triangular one-day series against Zimbabwe on Sunday.
"Moin was down with severe 'flu and he might miss the match.
Teams (from):
PAKISTAN: Inzamamul Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Yasir Hameed, Bazid Khan, Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Moin Khan, Misbahul Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naveedul Hasan, Rao Iftikhar.
ZIMBABWE: Tatenda Taibu, Brendon Taylor, Vusimuzi Sibanda, Dion Ebrahim, Mark Vermeulen, Stuart Matsikenyeri, Alestar Maregwede, Mluleki Nkala, Elton Chigumbura, Edward Rainsford, Twanda Mupariwa, Prosper Utseya, Douglas Hondo, Tinashe Panyangara, Graeme Alexander Cremer.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and Mark Benson (England).
TV umpire: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).
|
|