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| September 27, 2005 | Tuesday | Sha'aban 22, 1426 |
Inzamam pulls out of Super Series Test?
LAHORE, Sept 26: Inzamamul Haq, the Pakistan captain, has reportedly decided against playing for World XI in next month’s one-off Super Series Test against Australia in Sydney, according to a private TV channel on Monday.
Inzamam, who refused to talk to media about this development when this report was filed, was likely to hold a press briefing after Tuesday’s training session at National Cricket Academy.
The Pakistan captain, who replaced Indian Sachin Tendulkar, had presumably taken the decision to pull out probably in the aftermath of an unpleasant incident at the Qadhafi Stadium earlier in the day.
Inzamam was not allowed to park his car in the stadium by security personnel, who cited security measures for Tuesday’s final match of the one-day series between Pakistan ‘A’ and Australia ‘A’.
When contacted, the PCB director cricket operations Saleem Altaf said that he had no knowledge of Inzamam’s decision.
Our Sports Reporter adds from Karachi: Inzamam’s decision to pull out of the Super Test is perhaps, linked to Pakistan Cricket Board’s hasty handling of the episode that created a lot of confusion last week.
Tendulkar, currently recuperating from an elbow surgery opted to pull out after the Sept 22 deadline to confirm his availability for the inaugural ICC Super Series matches, before the game’s governing body officially confirmed last Friday that Inzamam would replace the Indian maestro in the World XI squad for the six-day Test.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) also announced that Tendulkar, who was due to represent the World XI in the three-match limited-overs series in Melbourne preceding the Test, was being replaced in the one-day squad by his compatriot Rahul Dravid with West Indian Chris Gayle taking up injured South African opener Herschelle Gibbs’s spot.
Without waiting for the official ICC announcement, the PCB created confusion by declaring last Wednesday that Inzamam had been included in both World XI squads before realizing its folly two days later when it retracted its earlier statement saying that Inzamam had been selected only for the Test match.
The PCB had taken for granted that Inzamam was to replace Tendulkar in both squads after the ICC sought Pakistan captain’s availability for both segments of the Super Series from the cricket board.
Inzamam may still change his mind by Tuesday because he openly expressed his elation at being selected for the World XI. He was also due to attend the ICC Test captains’ meeting being held in Sydney prior to the Test.
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