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| November 27, 2005 | Sunday | Shawwal 24, 1426 |
Third Test: Inzamam warns team-mates of England backlash
LAHORE, Nov 26: Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq has warned his team-mates on Saturday to avoid being complacent in the third and final Test against England as the visitors had the ability to stage a comeback.
Pakistan go into the final Test at the Qadhafi Stadium from Tuesday with 1-0 lead. The home team won the first Test in Multan by 22 runs while the second Test in Faisalabad ended in a draw.
Inzamam said that though Pakistan held lead in the series they must give an improved performance to retain their advantage.
“England are quite capable of staging a come back as they did in the home Ashes series against Australia. It is important for us to give an improved performance and deny them any chance of squaring the series,” he said.
The Pakistan captain hoped that he would like to win the toss since it always paid dividends.
“The toss is always vital and I was fortunate to have won it in the first two Tests. I hope the trend continues in the last Test as well.
“It looks like a good Test pitch here but it also appears as if it will encourage spinners. So we would like to bat first.”
When reminded that England captain Michael Vaughan wanted to see Pakistan chase target in the third Test, Inzamam did not say that his team did not fancy doing it.
“Toss is always important and is a huge advantage as batting last is always difficult on any kind of surface.”
He stressed that there were no injury problems while adding there would be no major changes in the squad for the third Test, except the enforced ones with Shahid Afridi already banned.
Afridi was banned for one Test and two One-day Internationals for scuffing the pitch in Faisalabad.
Inzamam pointed out that competitive cricket was witnessed in the two Tests and he hoped the final Test would also be entertaining for the spectators and those watching on television.
The Pakistan captain disagreed with legendary Imran Khan, who declared him a better batsman than West Indies’ Brian Lara and Indian Sachin Tendulkar when batting under pressure.
“I will thank Imran for making such positive remarks about me but personally I feel both Lara and Tendulkar have achieved more milestones than me and they are better than me,” he remarked.
Reuters adds: Inzamam has been in outstanding form with scores of 53, 72, 109 and 100 not out as Pakistan attempt to win their first series since beating New Zealand 1-0 in December 2003.
“The runs are coming for me at the right time but overall I think England are going to come harder at us in this Test because they have no option but to win the match.”
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