LAHORE, May 17: The Performance Evaluation Committee (PEC) of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), probing into reasons of national team’s dismal faring at the recent cricket World Cup, on Thursday blamed former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq’s dictatorial style of leadership as well as PCB’s eight-year-old ad hoc rule for the disaster in the Caribbeans.

“Inzamam's attitude was overbearing many a time, much like that of a dictator, and more than one incident proved that,” Ijaz Butt, head of the PEC told a crowded press conference here on Thursday.

"The PCB also failed to check Inzamam's influence that continued to increase after the Oval fiasco. He failed to lead from the front but continued to have his way since then board chairman Shaharyar Khan and ex-chairman of selection committee (Wasim Bari) catered to his whims and fancy. There were also serious doubts over Inzamam's fitness for one-day cricket in the past year but he was allowed to have his way," added Ijaz. “He (Inzi) was obdurate even when some former greats advised him to bat at number three or four to bring stability to the team.”

Flanked by two fellow members of PEC, Salahuddin Ahmed and Saleem Altaf, Ijaz said the selectors catered to Inzamam's desires and demands which also led to the downfall of the team. “He forced the selection committee to send an injured Shabbir Ahmad to South African tour. Also, the recalling of Imran Nazir, an out of sight batsman for years, for the World Cup had no justification at all. Besides that, sending Mushtaq Ahmad as assistant coach was a huge mistake and he was only sent at the behest of Inzamam", the former Test player noted.

Ijaz disclosed that Inzamam had even refused to allow one of the selectors, Ehteshamuddin, in a meeting on one occasion when the team was being finalised for the South African tour. "Inzamam asked Ehteshamuddin to take a walk, saying that ‘you have no role in the meeting’.

"He (Inzamam) failed to lead by example. His team selection was also poor. He dropped Muhammad Sami from the crucial opening game against the West Indies in the World Cup and then changed Danish Kaneria when the bowler had stumped out Ramdin in the 44th over," the PEC chief pointed out.

He said the committee was of the considered opinion that the omission of Danish (Kaneria) in the crucial game against Ireland was a tactical mistake on Inzamam’s part as the spinner would have severely tested the Irish batsmen with his guile and spin.

Giving his final analysis after the month-long inquiry which commenced on April 4 and took statements from current players, several former players and officials, Ijaz said: “Inzamam should be relieved of captaincy from all forms of the game. The board should hold a befitting farewell function in his honour since he has been one of the greatest batsmen for the country.”

Ijaz, however, avoided to comment on Inzamam’s future in Test cricket. "It is the job of the selectors to decide on Inzamam's fate as Test cricketer," he said.

The PEC also took serious notice of the snail-paced batting from skipper Inzamam and senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf in the opening match of the World Cup against West Indies. He, however, dismissed all speculation over involvement of match-fixing in Pakistan debacle. "The media has speculated a lot about match-fixing but we have found no evidence of it.” Ijaz, though, revealed that suspicions were raised by a number of former cricketers in their chat with PEC regarding the approach of Pakistani batsmen and they thought that our they had batted with inordinate caution at crucial times,” said Ijaz.

“They particularly referred to the time when Inzamam and Yousuf were at the crease and it was observed that both batsmen hardly ever tried to accelerate the run rate and in 6.3 overs they managed to score just five runs.”

Referring to a statement from ex-PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan who had alleged that a new form of fixing called spot-fixing was still taking place, Ijaz said: “This needs to be investigated and serious action needs to be taken by the PCB to ensure that we rid the game of the menace of match-fixing. A Committee comprising of former cricketers should be formed to check this out.”

Maintaining his hard-hitting stance over the inquiry, Ijaz refused to absolve the PCB of its responsibilities in all aspects of the game when he said: “There is a perception by the committee that weak administration in recent years in the Cricket board has resulted in emergence of player-power."

"This needs to be curbed with a strong hand. The Pakistan Cricket Board is the regulatory body and its writ should not be undermined by any individual. The Committee feels that the PCB didn't play its due role effectively and allowed the player-power to grow."

It is also pointed out that injuries to key players namely Shoaib Akhtar, Muhammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq and non-availability of Shahid Afridi for the first two games due to a ban imposed by ICC referee in South Africa had made Pakistan a depleted side that left for the West Indies. “"When the team left for the Cup, it had only 13 fit members and one of them, Shahid Afridi, was unavailable for the initial two group matches. This proved a huge setback to the team's morale and was not an ideal way to start the WC campaign," the PEC observed. While the opening batsmen failed in both the opening matches, the middle-order folded miserably under pressure.”

He added that the committee strongly felt that PCB did not adroitly handle the issue of fitness/doping concerning Shoaib Akhtar and Muhammad Asif.

The PEC also took a notice of the pitch prepared for Pakistan's match against Ireland and asked the PCB to take up the matter with the ICC. "The pitch prepared for the match against Ireland had more grass on it as compared to pitches prepared for the rest of the Cricket World Cup 2007 matches.

"The Committee desires that the PCB should look into this and seek an explanation from the ICC as the Pakistan team faced similar tracks at Mohali, India during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006. Is this some sort of ICC vendetta against Pakistan over the Darrell Hair issue?,” questioned the PEC chief. “This is, however, not an excuse for team's batting failure as professional cricketers must adjust themselves to the varied conditions," PEC remark.

Giving some suggestions towards the improvement of the game in future, the PEC suggested that the eight-year-long ad hocism should be removed and system of the management should revert back to what was in place before 1999. "The current ad hoc committee should be dissolved and replaced by a fully constituted board under the old constitution. The board's chairman should perform the functions equivalent to that of a corporate head and not associate himself with the players in any manner," the PEC suggested.

"A system of league competitions should be adopted and the board should produce and make public its financial plans every year along with audited statements," it recommended.

"Compensation to the players should not be on the basis of the length of time spent in the team. It should be equal for all players with additional payments to the captain and vice captain. National yearly awards should be made to the best players (batsman, bowler and fielder). The recommendations for these should be made to the board by the selection committee," the PEC proposed.

The committee made several suggestions to improve the domestic cricket, umpiring standard, to check ball-tampering and to provide all modern equipments to the chief curator for preparation of sporting wickets in the country.

“Furthermore, a Monitoring Committee of five members from among former Test players should be appointed to watch all Tests and one-day internationals and make recommendations every year to the board.

Making recommendation for the selections committee, the PEC chief stated: “It (selection committee) should work independently without fear or favour and select the team on merit.”