Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on Friday hit back at an official report that described him as a ”dictator” and blamed him for the team’s disastrous World Cup showing.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) inquiry concluded that Inzamam’s attitude was ”haughty and that of a dictator” and said he should have been removed as captain before the World Cup.
”I was blamed for being very lenient during my whole captaincy career and now I am turned into a dictator,” Inzamam told the Daily Jang. ”That could only be accepted if players had complained that I acted like one.”
”This is nothing new in Pakistan cricket. When the team loses, all the blame is put on others, and I was ready for that because it happened in the past,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s equally dismal 2003 World Cup.
”If I had power as captain it was simply because I was a successful captain and whenever I wanted a certain player, I convinced selectors to get that player and not through dictatorship,” said Inzamam.
In March, Pakistan lost their opening match to the hosts West Indies and were then knocked out by minnows Ireland.
Inzamam also questioned the neutrality of the three-man report committee that produced the stinging criticism.
”I know it will sound bitter to them but the presence of two paid members in the probe committee raises doubts over the impartiality of the report,” the burly 37-year-old batsman told the BBC’s Urdu service.
He said the presence of Salim Altaf and Salahuddin Ahmed, both paid employees of the PCB, on the report committee undermined its conclusions.
”How can a member who was the director of operations say this now and didn’t realise it before the World Cup?” said Inzamam of Altaf.
Inzamam, who resigned as captain and retired from one-day internationals after the tournament, said the report would have no bearing on his future.
”It will be up to the selectors to select me or not. I will feature in the domestic cricket and have been training to play Test cricket. This committee cannot decide my future,” he said.
The PCB inquiry, led by former Test player Ijaz Butt, also found that poor planning and lack of discipline were behind Pakistan’s performance in the Caribbean.
Inzamam was replaced as captain by Shoaib Malik, who on Friday leads the team in the first of three one-day games against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.
Pakistan’s next full series is against South Africa at home in September. They will tour India in November and December before hosting Australia early next year. — Sapa-AFP