May 19, 2007	Saturday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 02, 1428

KARACHI, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Friday hit back at an official report that described him as a ‘dictator’ and blamed him for the team’s disastrous showing at the 2007 World Cup.

The investigation made by the Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC) of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) concluded that Inzamam’s attitude was “haughty and that of a dictator” and said he should have been removed as captain before the World Cup.

“I was blamed for being very lenient during my whole captaincy career and now I have turned into a dictator,” Inzamam said. “That could only be accepted if players had complained that I acted like one.”

“This is nothing new in Pakistan cricket. When the team loses, all the blame is put on others, and I was ready for that because it happened in the past too,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s dismal performance in the 2003 World Cup.

“If I had power as the captain it was simply because I was a successful captain and whenever I wanted certain player I convinced the selectors to get that player and not through dictatorship,” Inzamam affirmed.

In March, Pakistan lost their opening match at the World Cup to the hosts West Indies and were then knocked out by minnows Ireland.

Inzamam also questioned the neutrality of the three-man PEC that produced the stinging criticism.

“I know it will sound bitter to them but the presence of two paid members in the probe committee raises doubts over the impartiality of the report,” the 37-year-old batsman said.

He said the presence of Salim Altaf and Salahuddin Ahmed, both paid employees of the PCB, on the report committee undermined its conclusions.

“How can a member, who was the director of operations, say this now and didn’t realise it before the World Cup?” said Inzamam of Salim Altaf.

Inzamam, who resigned as captain and retired from One-day Internationals after the World Cup, stated the report would have no bearing on his future.

“It will be up to the selectors to select me or not. I will feature in the domestic cricket and have been training to play Test cricket. This committee cannot decide my future,” he maintained.

The PEC, led by former Test player Ijaz Butt, also found that poor planning and lack of discipline were behind Pakistan’s performance in the Caribbean.

Inzamam was replaced as captain by Shoaib Malik, who on Friday led the team in the first of three one-dayers against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

Pakistan’s next major international assignment is their home series against South Africa in Sept. They will then tour India in Nov-Dec before hosting Australia early next year. —AFP