Inzamam to return home after injury (18 February 1999)

18 February 1999

Inzamam to return home after injury

Our Special Representative

CALCUTTA, Feb 17: Inzamam-ul-Haq is flying back after a neck injury restricted him from appearing in the Asian Test Championship fixture against India.

Team manager Shaharyar Khan informed the Pakistan press corps that Haq would be leaving for New Delhi on Thursday evening from where he will take a connecting flight to Lahore.

"He is not seriously injured but we thought it would be pointless to keep him here. At least he would feel more comfortable and at ease at home. The additional rest would provide him an excellent opportunity to be fit for the second game against Sri Lanka," Khan said at the Eden Gardens.

He said since it was the last match of the tour, no replacement would be called. "Arshad Khan was called in place of Mushtaq Ahmad because we were unsure what type of wicket would be provided for this game," Khan explained.

Inzamam-ul-Haq had knocked his head against the ceiling of the team bus at the Calcutta airport on Sunday evening while boarding on way to the hotel.

Shaharyar Khan claimed that although the people with vested interests tried their level best to divide the team into two groups, "but they have failed. The boys are still united and backing each other. There is no tension between Wasim Akram and Javed Miandad and both are working together."

Khan, asked to comment on reports published here that there was rift in the team and Waqar Younis had sat out in protest, said the paceman had been dropped purely for cricketing reasons. "There is no other reason to drop him except that he was not in the best of form.

"How could we have informed him on the night before the match that he was not playing. The team was not finalized until The Management had a final look at the wicket."

However, Pakistan captain Wasim Akram, in a column published on the morning of the Test, had already committed that he would be playing Azhar Mahmood.

Shaharyar Khan admitted that the team management's decision to bat first backfired. "Yes, the decision didn't prove right. The general observation was that the wicket would be batsmen friendly but it played havoc in the morning. But I am happy with the way the boys have staged a comeback and this is a clear indication of the fighting spirit and unity of the side."

Asked if he would again accept the offer to manage the team, Shaharyar Khan, with a broad smile, replied: "No. I love cricket but I was sent here on an assigned mission which I think was different from cricketing management."

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