LAHORE, May 17: An inquiry committee looking into Pakistan’s shock first-round exit from cricket World Cup has blamed the “arrogant attitude of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq” for the defeat. The panel accused him of acting like a dictator.

The three-member-committee that unveiled its findings here on Thursday added that lack of planning and poor discipline were also behind Pakistan’s dismal performance in the Caribbean.

“Inzamam’s attitude was haughty and that of a dictator and more than one incident proved that,” Ijaz Butt, head of the committee, said after a month-long inquiry that took statements from players, former players and officials.

“Inzamam should have been removed from captaincy. As a player he was world-class but his attitude was haughty during and before the tournament.”

Pakistan lost their opening match to the West Indies by 54 runs and then crashed out of the event with a humiliating three-wicket defeat at the hands of debutants Ireland.

Mr Butt, a former Test player, said Inzamam had rejected the policy of a selector being involved in the team’s line-up on tours.

“When the Pakistan Cricket Board sent a selector with the team on tour to South Africa in January-February this year, Inzamam did not involve the selector in team selection,” he said.

Inzamam quit as captain after the World Cup and announced his retirement from one-day games.—Agencies

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