Waqar refuses to step down, Inzamam quits vice-captaincy

Beleaguered Pakistan skipper Waqar Younis on Monday refused to quit following his side's unceremonious World Cup exit while seeking the nation's pardon.

However, Inzamam-ul-Haq, after a wretched run with the bat during the tournament in southern Africa, stepped down as vice-captain.

Waqar, while announcing his decision, told a crowded press conference at Gaddafi Stadium that he will continue to play on because he deemed himself quite fit.

The fast bowler is following in the footsteps of Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Lt Gen Tauqir Zia and chief selector Wasim Bari who are keen to carry on.

Waqar said, "at the moment I am not opting for retirement,but I can't say any thing about tomorrow.

"I want to repair the damage that has been done to Pakistan cricket in the World Cup by us," Waqar said.

Waqar refused to discuss the reasons behind team's debacle. "There was no mystery and the case is simple we did not play to our potential.".

Waqar did not agree that his captaincy played a part in the downfall of Pakistan side. "It is not true, but we batted and bowled badly which led to poor results."

The 31-year-old pacer said changes in the batting order for every match was done by the tour selection committee, which also included the team manager Mr Shaharyar Khan.

Waqar conceded that the team had been facing problems of placing suitable batsmen for the first three positions. "In the past Pakistan had a good opening pair in Saeed Anwar and Aamir Sohail but after that it becomes a chronic problem."

Waqar negated the impression that the team had not learnt lessons from the sequence of defeats that started from the Morocco Cup last August.

"We learnt from the defeats, but could not perform in the World Cup," he said.

Waqar agreed with manager Mr Shaharyar's point of viewthat holding of the send-off ceremony before the team's departure only served to mount further pressure on the players,who were already fighting with the pressure of the World Cup.

Commenting on the statement of coach Richard Pybus that the seniors of Pakistan team were not willing to learn more, Waqar said that it was a totally wrong perception of the coach.

He, however, defended Pybus to an extent and added that the coach was not responsible alone for the defeats.

Waqar admitted that the bowling let down the team in the crunch match against India. "I dismissed two Indian batsmen in one over, but overall, the performance of the bowlers at both ends was very bad."

When asked why he resorted to bowl two beamers at Australian batsman Andrew Symonds in the opening match, Waqar admitted that he was unaware of the beamer rules and that's why umpire David Shepherd prevented him from bowling again.

Inzamam too sounded apologetic about the team's pathetic showing and like Waqar sought the nation's pardon.

The burly batsman, who made just 19 runs in six matches, conceded the added burden of vice-captaincy was the reason of his poor form.

Mr Shaharyar, meanwhile, very diplomatically pointed out that the seniors were not capable of delivering the goods.

"Top players are aging now and they can't deliver the same that they had been producing in 90s. While the rising stars like Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq and others proved they still lack in countering pressure of the mega event," the manager noted.

Mr Shaharyar confessed that he had no justification todefend the regrettable performance of the team. "Neither the team faced any injury problems nor any decision of the umpireswent against them."

The former diplomat also remarked that Pakistan playerswere not disciplined enough in terms of cricketing language. "We have learnt these basics about cricket at school level which is the right platform to polish cricketers from their teenage years."

Mr Shaharyar dispelled the impression of grouping between Wasim Akram and Waqar. "It is totally baseless. Both Wasim and Waqar had been addressing the team's meetings before and after every match which shows unity between them."

He said that people had great expectations from this team. "The public during the send-off ceremony were saying with confidence we can win the World Cup and wewill bring the cup home."

Former captain Wasim Akram was also officially called up by the PCB to attend the press conference, but for some reasons, he failed to show up.