April 19, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 01, 1428

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LAHORE, April 18: Mohammad Yousuf said on Wednesday Pakistan lacked teamwork which caused their early exit from the 2007 World Cup. Talking to reporters after recording his statement before the World Cup’s Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC) here on Wednesday, The batting maestro said not a single member but the entire team was responsible for the poor performance in the West Indies extravaganza.

Fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, both having missed the World Cup due to fitness and drugs-related problems, also gave their statements. Besides them a member of the committee, Saleem Altaf, also answered various questions as the then Director Cricket Operations.

Yousuf rejected the impression that religious preaching or focusing on offering the prayers played a role in causing the defeat at the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Akhtar said Pakistan should take a new start to salvage the pride and for that, he emphasised, it should forget the World Cup failure.

“I believe with better planning and strategy, Pakistan can beat Australia, Sri Lanka, South Africa and other teams in the next five months,” the fearsome paceman expressed.

Claiming he is super fit and seeking to remove the ‘unfit player’ tag, Shoaib remarked that several players expressing the will to lead Pakistan side is not good.

Asif said a seaming track against Ireland was one of the main reasons of Pakistan's debacle in the World Cup, adding that after the Pakistan-Ireland match that kind of pitch was not witnessed in any of the World Cup games.

While avoiding commenting on the captaincy issue, Asif said it was the job of the board to appoint Pakistan skipper.

Three more players – Imran Nazir, Mohammad Hafeez and Rao Iftikhar – will appear before the committee on Thursday.