Waqar retained captain for home series against Kiwis

Paceman Waqar Younis was Friday retained Pakistan captain for a three- Test and as many one-day internationals home series against New Zealand starting Sept 19.

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia told Dawn from Lahore that although his establishment would like Waqar to continue till the 2003 World Cup, decision on his future would be made after analyzing his form and fitness. "According to our policy, Waqar has initially been appointed captain till the home series against New Zealand. Inzamam-ul-Haq will continue to serve as vicecaptain," Zia said.

Waqar replaced an out of favour Moin Khan for the Sharjah and England tours in March where Pakistan put up a mixed performance. Nevertheless, Waqar's own performance remained outstanding when he finished with 17 wickets in the England tri-nation one-day competition.

After the New Zealand tour, Pakistan are to play in a threenation tournament in Sharjah and then proceed to Bangladesh for a two-Test series before hosting West Indies for a three-Test series. "Waqar will be conveyed about his additional responsibilities for the second half of the international season in advance," Zia said, hinting that the pacer would be entrusted with captaincy for the entire season during the New Zealand series.

The appointment means Waqar will also captain Pakistan in the icebreaking Test against India at Lahore in the Asian Test Championship between Sept 12 and 16. Waqar made his Test debut against India at Karachi in 1989-90. The PCB chief said he was pleased with Waqar's individual performance and the way the team had responded under his leadership. "But we don't like to jumpthe guns. Although I am confident that Waqar will maintain the highest standards of fitness, we have to stick to our policy of appointing captains on series-by-series basis," he said.

Zia admitted that Pakistan lacked Waqar's replacement as captain. "Inzamam is the vice-captain but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is the future captain. We have Saeed Anwar and Rashid Latif but I don't want to hand over the charge to Rashid because he has just forced his way into the team. "He (Rashid) still requires time to adjust to the rigours of international cricket. It would be unjustified if he is handed over this demanding job. "Besides this senior trio, the others are inexperienced."

The PCB supremo said the decision to retain Waqar was not difficult in the backdrop of his and team's performance in Sharjah and England. The general said the PCB would award contracts to a select group of players before the international season begins with the Test against Bangladesh at Multan from Aug 29.

He said half a dozen players would be awarded contracts but didn't promise that the players would be from the 27 named to attend the training camp starting in Karachi from Aug 6. "Before we award contracts, two things have to be gauged. Firstly, do we have enough funds in our coffers and secondly, will our players be at par with other teams.

"The basic objective of awarding contracts is to avoid the embarrassment of players entering into individual deals with PCB sponsors competitors," he said, with reference to players agreement with Coca Cola which put the PCB in an awkward situation as Pepsi is the team's sponsor.