The Pakistan tour of New Zealand was a mixed one but confirmed what we already knew. The team has mood-swings but even worse relies on individual brilliance rather than a collective consistency and more often than not, it is the same individuals.

Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed have got the team to good starts but have yet to learn the knack of going on and like a front-runner in a horse race will falter at the finish. Is it a lack of experience? Or is it the abandon of youth that makes them cocky and gets them to cast all caution to the wind and throw away their wicket?

To have this happening over and over again smacks of carelessness and cricket is an unforgiving game. I get the impression that Pakistan goes into a match without a game-plan. I could be wrong. But a team that whitewashes an opponent 5-0 should not lose to the same opponent 1-4 in what was virtually a back-to-back series. But this is behind us and post-mortem may be helpful to medical science but they do nothing for the corpse. And we must concentrate on the forthcoming tour by India and Pakistan will have to raise its game several notches. What the PCB must do immediately is to confirm Inzamam-ul-Haq as the captain. All uncertainty must be removed.

Past experience teaches us that delays provide an opportunity to certain 'lobbies' to get their oar in and which only contributes to unsettling the team. And an unsettled team is the last thing we need against a fired-up India.

Inzamam is not a demonstrative captain and looks laid-back and at times, almost absent-minded. But he is a good reader of the game and his own batting record shows how calmly he handles a crisis. Under his leadership there has been no grouping of players or ganging-up. None, at least, that has surfaced and no one can question that he does not deserve to be in the team.

Every opponent considers Inzamam's wicket to be the big wicket, the main prize. And finally, there is no credible alternative and we can't afford to take a chance with someone else. Against India, the stakes are too high. Appoint him captain and get him involved in the planning.

We already have the core of the team and it, more or less, selects itself as far as personnel is concerned. Add Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi and the squad would be complete. The squad should be announced at the earliest, subject of course to fitness.

It should be made a pre-condition that only those players will be selected who pass fitness tests at the outset. Players carrying niggles should be put on hold. The priority, therefore, should be in the appointing of a credible panel of doctors who should be specialists in sports medicine. The word should get out that fitness is a pre-qualification for selection. Injuries picked up while playing is another matter but we should start with an able-bodied team.

My mind goes back to the 1970s and to the preparations for our squash players. Geoff Hunt was then the world's champion and he was supremely fit. The only way he could be beaten was to match his fitness. Nur Khan brought in a physical trainer from the Pakistan Air Force who was told in no uncertain terms that he should ignore the complaints of the players who found the drill too rigorous.

I was put in charge and had to report daily to Nur Khan on how the players were faring. The players continued to grumble but there was no way out for them. By the time we got to the Irish Open in Dublin, we had four players who matched Geoff Hunt in fitness and his reign was over. Pakistan ruled the squash world. It was this extra effort that had made the difference.

Fitness levels for cricket may be different but the principle is the same. Ask Jahangir Khan, the greatest squash player ever, and he will tell you how many hours he put in to keep himself in prime condition.

I presume there will be a training camp but a lot of time should be devoted to doing the homework on the Indians and with the benefit of videos, there should be group discussions and should involve former Test players, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Zaheer Abbas and other great players and get their input.

The training camp must be more than glorified net-practice and should be a learning process. The squad should be kept to a minimum and not become a crowd.

The temptation is there to see Test and one-day cricket as different game. In a sense, they are but the skills required are the same and it is only a matter of adjustment. But the key to the one-day game is the balance of the team. Pakistan somehow gets it wrong and invariably plays with a bowler short.

We paid the price for this in New Zealand. We also need to get the batting order right. The best batsmen should play the majority of the overs. In the Wellington One-day International, it made no sense to send in Azhar Mahmood at one-down. There was no need for a pinch-hitter at that stage. There was an element of panic, the target was not all that daunting and good sensible cricket, rotating the strike and taking singles would have kept the score-board moving.

Even so, Abdul Razzaq's dazzling innings very nearly won the match for Pakistan but for two foolish run-outs, Shoaib Akhtar's being absolutely needless. He appeared to be dawdling when he should have been sprinting.

And finally, Darrell Hair was able to strike again and reported Shabbir Ahmed for a 'suspect' action. Shabbir becomes doubtful for the India series. How is Hair able to see what other umpires do not? Or is he an umpire with a mission? Video replays will show that he makes mistakes, some glaring ones but nobody calls him for incompetent umpiring!