Committee blames Inzamam

A PCB inquiry into Pakistan’s performance at the 2007 World Cup, has blamed the captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, for the side’s poor performance.

The report from the three member committee appointed to find out what went wrong in the Caribbean after Pakistan did not make it past the group stage, accuses Inzamam of being a poor leader and a “dictator”.

“Inzamam’s attitude was haughty and that of a dictator and more than one incident proved that,” said the head of the committee, Ijaz Butt.

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

“Inzamam became an autocratic and introverted captain after the Oval fiasco last year and his refusal to go on the field was overlooked by then PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan,” Butt said.

“When the 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.”

However, the blame was not solely placed on Inzamam, who retired from ODIs after the World Cup, but also on the entire Pakistan cricket system.

“The poor performance reflects an overall failure of management at all levels,” said Butt.

“No-one bothered to do the homework before the World Cup by sending someone to the Caribbean to get the know-how about pitches and conditions and injuries to players were not treated seriously.”