Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam on Tuesday slammed national team’s miserable performance against arch-rivals India and demanded an urgent inquiry against the players who have been allegedly seen enjoying themselves in a shisha cafe the night before the Pakistan-India match.
Why Pakistan lost to India, even before the World Cup started?
“It appears that the team management has totally failed to make a thorough plan for the World Cup,” said Alam. “They should have a robust strategy against each team, complete knowledge about the kind of pitches, the weather conditions and weaknesses and strengths of their rivals. Sadly, none of that has been on display and the performances of the Pakistan team so far shows that no gameplan was ever in place,” he regretted.
“Just how could the team management justify the decision of bowling first after winning the toss against Australia and then in the crucial match against India,” asked Alam. “How can the management defend its decision of playing four spinners against India who are very comfortable against slow bowlers.”
Former skipper lashes out at Inzamam’s needless presence in England
Intikhab further said that among the top three batsmen, at least one or two had to play big knocks and build the innings around them in order to pile up a sizeable score for the opposition. “But no such plan or methodical approach has been witnessed in the batting.”
He also questioned the presence of chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq in England and said it was the mistake of the PCB to allow him to stay in England on Board’s expense.
“Once the selection committee has selected the team, the captain and coach take over to select the playing eleven and decide on the tour matters,” said Intikhab. “So what is the role of Inzamam-ul-Haq there and why has the PCB allowed him to go on an official visit and interfere,” he questioned.
Commenting on the media reports that Shoaib Malik, one of the senior most players in the Pakistan team, along with opener Imam-ul-Haq, Wahab Riaz and others broke the curfew time and were found in a shisha cafe late in the night, Intikhab said it should not have happened.
“It is wrong as the players are on their national duty and there must be a discipline to be followed strictly,” he emphasised. “Though the PCB has claimed that the event happened two days before the crucial match against India, even then no one could justify the late stay of the players in a cafe as there are certain timings to be observed.
“The players could have their dinner at any hotel maximum by 11pm not beyond that. The PCB should hold an inquiry to penalise the players involved,” he demanded.
According to the media report, the above said players remained in the cafe late 2 am on Sunday. However, the PCB claimed it happened two days before the match against India and the time was wrongly reported as 2 am as no curfew timing was flouted.
He also expressed his displeasure that the senior players could not perform well and added that the decision of the selectors and the team management to go with experienced players, despite their poor performance in the last one year, had proved utterly wrong. “Shoaib Malik, skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Hafeez needed to play positively and lead from the front but ironically they have all failed to do so.
