Haroon says, PCB alone can decide about him (26 Apr 1998)

Sunday, April 26, 1998

Haroon says, PCB alone can decide about him

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, April 25: Pakistan team coach Haroon Rasheed vowed to continue, saying he had contributed a lot to cricket.

"Why should I step down. I think I have done well and contributed a lot to the cricket team," Rasheed said.

When told that the PCB Council agenda includes the issue of hiring a new coach, he said: "Then ask the cricket board. My objective is to serve Pakistan cricket in any form. I am satisfied with whatever I have done.

"Contribution is there and that's why I am here otherwise someone else would have been sitting here."

A visibly irritated Rasheed, when questioned what had gone wrong on the tour, claimed the tour was a successful one "in which Pakistan drew the series in South Africa, won in Zimbabwe and then reached the final of the triangular series."

Asked if Pakistan team's performance in Zimbabwe was convincing, he replied: "Convincing is nothing. Do you think the performance of the team was convincing when you won the World Cup in 1992.

"You people always judge a tour by win or lose. Performance is never taken into consideration. You people are being too critical. If there is resentment in the people, let it be. Cricket should be considered as nothing but sport," he said.

He said if Moin Khan saved the Test at Bulawayo or Mohammad Wasim's 192 won the Test at Harare, that was their job. "They were part of the team and had to perform. After all, someone has to play well. Matches are only won when there is a contribution from three or four players. All the 11 players never perform at one time."

Haroon Rasheed said it was injustice to compare Pakistan with countries like South Africa. "They have a proper infrastructure which we don't have. They have a system from where players are coming up while we find it difficult to pick up a single player.

"Things which need attention are being ignored and the only discussion is about win and lose."

Rasheed dismissed claims that the senior players played recklessly. "They were not irresponsible but were out of form. They failed to click throughout the tour. I feel that in those conditions, we played very well."

Rasheed emphasised that on the entire tour, the top three or four batsmen never delivered the goods. He said the innings was rescued by the lower order batsmen.

"While the top order continued to be off-colour, Azhar Mahmood also lost his touch in the one-dayers and we never recovered," he remarked.

When told that the top order was not allowed to settle with frequent changes, Rasheed said: "When Azhar (Mahmood) went in the shallow in one-dayers, we promoted him so that he could gain confidence by getting some score by hitting over the top. It was a gamble which didn't work."

Abdul Razzak was made to open the innings after he had shown at Durban that he was a straight bat. "Shahid Afridi was struggling on those bouncy wickets. He also had temperamental problem while his bowling was also lacking penetration.

"Considering the wickets, we played with four bowlers and the combination didn't allow us to field Afridi," Rasheed said.

Rasheed stressed that the most important thing from the tour was the grooming of some cricketers. He said Yousuf Yohana and Mohammad Wasim emerged as talented batsmen who improved with every match while the appearance of Shoaib Akhtar as a real quickie was also a huge gain. He said Azhar Mahmood transformed into a real allrounder who used his head and showed that he can be relied upon.

Source :: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)