Imran blames 'faulty system'

Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain, termed Pakistan's latest defeat "deplorable", and said that the entire system was in need of an urgent shake-up. Imran's comments came in the wake of Pakistan's humiliating 491-run defeat in the first Test at Perth.

"We will continue to blame coaches and captains for each defeat and sack them," Imran told AAP, "but the real remedy is to develop batsmen technically by overhauling our faulty system. Until and unless we correct our faulty system, and that I have been saying for the last 25 years, our batsmen will not be technically and temperamentally equipped to face a quality bowling side like Australia."

Imran said that there were only two ways approach the problem. "Either correct it by improving the system or send the batsmen to play in county cricket," he said. "Batting has always been Pakistan's bane on tours of Australia - our batsmen thrive against lack-of-quality bowling, but when they come up against the world-class bowling of Australia they are exposed."

He added that the captain was solely responsible for the team's fortunes, but sympathised with Inzamam-ul-Haq's predicament. "I think the coach can make a marginal difference and it's the captain who makes the team fight, but how can he make a team fight whose base is weak?"

Imran said that Australia did brilliantly to fight back from a perilous position on the first day. "The hallmark of a champion team is that they hung in during bad times and when they got an opportunity showed the killer instinct," he said. "Pakistan should have been a pack of wolves once they caught Australia, but they weren't."