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| October 05, 2006 | Thursday | Ramazan 11, 1427 |
Talat brushes aside security concerns
LAHORE, Oct 4: Newly appointed manager of the Pakistan cricket team Talat Ali Malik has said he does not see security problems for the team during the ICC Champions Trophy in India.
“The two cricket boards have cordial relations and I am hopeful for the best possible arrangements for all participating teams," Talat, the former Test opener, said on the first day of a three-day training camp started at the National Cricket Academy ground on Wednesday.
All members of the team attended the camp except Shahid Afridi, who would join from Thursday.
Talat, who replaced Zaheer Abbas as manager, said the team would depart for India on Saturday and stay in New Delhi for two days before leaving for Jaipur on Monday.
Pakistan will hold one-week training camp in Jaipur before meeting a qualifier in the same city on Oct 17. The qualifier could either be West Indies, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe or Bangladesh.
He said the team would miss skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq on the tour.
"Inzamam is not only the best player of Pakistan but also a world class batsman and his absence will definitely be felt," he added.
He said the name of Inzamam could be considered for selection in case of an injury to any player, provided Pakistan qualify for the Champions Trophy final.
About discipline, Talat said he hoped there would be no such problems on the Indian tour.
“Indiscipline was a problem in the past but not now, as all players are decent and disciplined," the manager remarked.
About Pakistan’s chances of winning the ICC Champions Trophy, Talat said his team had ideal combination of players and was a perfect One-day side.
Partnerships were important in one-day cricket to accelerate the run-rate which helped in posting huge score, Talat concluded.
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