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| April 16, 2006 | Sunday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1427 |
Inzamam not convinced about fielding coach
LAHORE, April 15: Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq is not completely in favour of a specialised fielding coach with the team for the forthcoming England tour.
"Our fielding has been improving and its standard was good during the Sri Lankan tour but if the board is interested in hiring a fielding coach, he can be used in the training camp and not during the tour," Inzamam said when asked if the board sought his recommendations, before taking a decision on this matter.
Inzamam was talking to journalists after holding a one-day, short training camp on Saturday for the back-to-back ODIs against India in Abu Dhabi on April 18 and 19.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to hire the services of a fielding coach for the England tour starting from June 25.
Inzamam explained that the team performed well in all departments of the game in Sri Lanka, despite humid conditions and he was quite satisfied with the improved fielding standard.
About the forthcoming matches against India, Inzamam refuted the impression that it was a chance for Pakistan to avenge the 4-1 loss to India in the last home series.
"Defeats and wins are a part of the game and I think the people should take every match with that in mind", he said.
He avoided predicting victory for his team saying:" Any team can win a One-day match by performing well on the given day".
Inzamam pointed out that the two-match series did not need much preparation but as the game was being played against India, it had created excitement, and required full attention of the boys.
He did not agree that Pakistan had chances of beating India as Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif, two key players, are out-of-form during home series against England.
"It is not a game of individuals but rather a team's game and one team has to face 11 players of the other side", he said.
About the absence of Mohammad Yousuf from the camp, Inzamam explained the middle-order batsman had left for Karachi to attend to his ailing wife.
There are reports Yousuf has been suffering from hamstring and he was playing with a runner in the Wapda Inter-departmental championship on Thursday.
Yousuf did not play the first Test in Colombo against Sri Lanka owing to hamstring but was declared fit for the second Test in Kandy.
Inzamam said all-rounder Shahid Afridi's decision of announcing retirement from Test cricket till World Cup-2007 seems to be taken in haste.
He dispelled the impression that there was a rift between Afridi and him during the Sri Lankan tour which prompted the all-rounder to take the decision in a hurry.
"Afridi had been considering the decision for the last three months and though his sudden announcement was surprising, it was not the result of any differences", he said.
However, Inzamam said Afridi informed him about his decision but added, he should also inform the PCB.
He said that the opening pair of Imran Farhat and Shoaib Malik gave improved performances in Sri Lanka but that he wanted more from them.
He said the bowling coach Waqar Younis did not spent much time with the team but he was expecting good results in the future.
The 14-member team will leave for Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The first match of the series is being organised to generate funds for the Oct 8 earthquake's victims, both in Pakistan and India. Pakistan will take 75 per cent of the funds while the remaining will go to Jasgnuru victims, across the LoC.
The income of the second one will be distributed equally between India and Pakistan.
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