‘Yousuf should be given extended run as captain’

LAHORE: While former Test captain Inzamam-ul-Haq came forward on Thursday in support of embattled Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yousuf, suggesting a captain should be given at least one year to produce favourable results, the former batting maestro also tendered himself to act as the national team’s batting coach.

“Frequent changes in captaincy due to defeats can put any captain under pressure, ultimately. Therefore, a skipper should be given at least one year before any decision is taken about his captaincy future,” Inzamam told reporters here on Thursday.

“A swift change in [the national] captaincy also proves that the earlier decision of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to appoint anyone as skipper was wrong,” he added.

Inzamam openly supported Yousuf for the captaincy slot when Younis Khan decided to take a break after the ODI series loss against New Zealand in the UAE last November.

However, under Yousuf Pakistan, after drawing the three-Test match series against New Zealand in New Zealand 1-1, had to suffer a clean sweep at the hands of Australia in the three-Test rubber.

Furthermore, the national team is set to taste another whitewash in the five-game ODI series after losing the first three encounters against Ricky Ponting’s brigade.

Inzamam, who played 120 Tests to score 8830 — just two runs less than Javed Miandad’s aggregate of 8832, and 11,739 runs, the highest by any Pakistani in ODIs, offered his services to cope with the batting woes faced by the national team.

“A batting coach is the need of the national team and I am ready to transfer my experience to the boys, after deciding the terms with the PCB,” Inzamam said.

Indirectly, he also criticised Intikhab Alam, Pakistan’s head coach. “Only that coach can serve the [team’s] cause, who has played modern cricket, as South Africa’s Gary Kirsten [presently coaching India],” Inzamam, a veteran of 378 One-day Internationals, noted.

He said while Yousuf was a new captain, in the past even the experienced captains underwent defeats in Australia. Therefore, he reckoned, another change in captaincy would not be beneficial.

Citing serious lack of discipline within the team currently in Australia, the 1992 World Cup hero suggested strict action should be taken by the PCB and the team management against those who were giving statements in the media without proper permission.

To a question about groupings within the team, Inzamam said if that factor was there it was also a weakness of the team management.

He considered Shoaib Malik as the best all-rounder in one-day cricket, adding if he was not getting chance it was unjust.