Bari lambasts Inzamam on World Cup failure

Wasim Bari, whoser resignation as Pakistan's chief selector was reported earlier on Monday, has criticised Inzamam-ul-Haq for not leading the side from the front and for making wrong selections which led to failure at the World Cup. He also said that the World Cup squad had been picked in consultation with the captain and Bob Woolmer, the coach who died on Sunday.

"Inzamam led without commitment and the team looked like an army without a general," Bari, who resigned over the team's first round exit from the World Cup, told AFP.

Pakistan were dumped out of the World Cup on March 17 after losing their Group D match to Ireland - their worst-ever World Cup exit which prompted Inzamam to announce his retirement from one-day cricket and quit the captaincy after the final match against Zimbabwe on March 21.

Bari, a former Pakistan captain, said he never normally criticised individuals but Inzamam's recent statements had forced him to go public. "The commitment comes from the top and it doesn't come from anywhere else and he could have had a better farewell.

"I read that the team management including the now-deceased coach [Bob] Woolmer said they did not want certain players in the World Cup team. This is baseless. I went to South Africa to get their nod on team selection."

Bari said his selection committee always tried to accommodate the captain and the coach. "We thought it was the captain who has to lead the team onto the ground and that's why we always took their words and never forced any selection. I never went public but there were times I could have.

"I tried to convince both the captain and the coach to have a left-right opening combination but they did not budge and there was no left-hander in the 15-man [World] Cup squad," said Bari, who also tendered his resignation after Pakistan's first round exit in the 2003 World Cup.

Bari refused to comment on Inzamam's decision to quit one-day cricket. "It is his personal decision and I am not going to comment. He decided what he felt better for himself but he was a good player and could have led the team in a better way."

He said that the board had to be run like a commercial company and that Pakistan cricket needed to be run with a broad vision like in Australia and South Africa. "We do have a lot of talent but in order to tap that we need to run the things on professional basis, otherwise I see a bleak future for our cricket. We need to save Pakistan cricket."