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| September 24, 2005 | Saturday | Sha’aban 19, 1426 |
PCB admits blunder over Inzamam’s selection
LAHORE, Sept 23: Pakistan skipper Inzamamul Haq has only been selected to the World XI for the one-off Test match and not for the One-dayers against World champions Australia to be played next month. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M Khan said on Friday that the board misunderstood the decision of the International Cricket Council (ICC) while giving information to the press that Inzamam had been selected for both Test and One-day matches.
He said that the ICC asked the PCB to inform them if Inzamam was available for both Test and One-day matches.
The PCB, he added, confirmed Inzamam’s availability for both versions of the game and when the ICC intimated to the board that Inzamam had been selected, the PCB was under the impression that it meant both the Test and One-day matches and accordingly informed the media.
However, later, the ICC informed the PCB that it had only selected Inzamam for the Test and not for the One-dayers.
Shaharyar said that he had personally met the Australian ‘A’ team, currently touring Pakistan, to thank them for not taking any decision in the wake of two bomb blasts.
He said that the PCB had sent the proposal to its Indian counterpart for appointing neutral umpires while hosting them next year.
He hoped that itinerary of the tour would also be confirmed by the Indian cricket board soon.
AFP adds: ICC officially confirmed on Friday that Inzamam will replace Sachin Tendulkar in the Test side against Australia in the Super Series.
Rahul Dravid of India will replace team-mate Tendulkar in the One-day squad, which also sees West Indian opener Chris Gayle come in for the injured Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa, the ICC said in a press release.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, who heads the six-man selection committee for the World squads, said that the selectors were fortunate to have such stellar players waiting in the wings.
“Obviously we are disappointed that Sachin and Herschelle have been forced out with injury, but we have been able to call on three world class players to cover this loss,” the ICC statement quoted Gavaskar as saying.
“Both Inzamam and Gayle were extremely close to making the original squads, so we were delighted to have an opportunity to bring these two great players into the World sides.
“To also be able to promote a player of Dravids quality from just the Test squad to both squads is a tremendous bonus.”
Besides Gavaskar, the other selectors were Clive Lloyd of the West Indies, Richard Hadlee of New Zealand, Aravinda de Silva of Sri Lanka, Mike Atherton of England and Jonty Rhodes of South Africa.
Revised World squads:
Test: Graeme Smith (RSA-capt), Virender Sehwag (IND), Rahul Dravid (IND), Inzamamul Haq (PAK), Brian Lara (WIS), Jacques Kallis (RSA), Andrew Flintoff (ENG), Shaun Pollock (RSA), Mark Boucher (RSA), Steve Harmison (ENG), Shoaib Akhtar (PAK), Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI), Daniel Vettori (NZL).
One-dayers: Shaun Pollock (RSA-capt), Chri s Gayle (WIS), Virender Sehwag (IND), Jacques Kallis (RSA), Brian Lara (WIS), Kevin Pietersen (ENG), Rahul Dravid (IND), Andrew Flintoff (ENG), Kumar Sangakkara (SRI), Shahid Afridi (PAK), Shoaib Akhtar (PAK), Makhaya Ntini (RSA), Muttiah Muralitharan (SRI), Daniel Vettori (NZL).
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