September 26, 2006	Tuesday	Ramazan 2, 1427

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LAHORE, Sept 24: Pakistan Under-19 coach Mansoor Rana on Sunday blamed wrong selection and poor planning of tour as major factors for the team’s poor performance against Indian juniors who clean sweeped the series 6-0.

Talking to reporters after Pakistan’s defeat in the fourth and final one-dayer at the Qadhafi Stadium on Sunday, Mansoor said that around 33 players were selected for the six-match series which included two four-day games and four one-day matches and that clearly reflected poor planning on the part of cricket organisers.

He lamented the selectors’ decision to choose Pakistan junior players on the basis of their performance in the last Under-19 Inter-district Championship.

“To choose players on the basis of a lowly-rated tournament for such a competitive tour was a mistake and could not bring good results.

“The national caps were distributed to so many players as if it had no value.”

Mansoor added that he had made it clear to the selectors before the tour that the team announced for the India series was weak.

“I advised them to at least call up four players from the team which won the last Junior World Cup, but the advice obviously fell on deaf ears.”

Meanwhile, Indian manager G.J.J Raju denied the impression his team comprised overage players who made the difference against Pakistan.

"We conducted wrist test to determine their age and many talented players could not find a place in the team," Raju told Dawn.