Inzamam & Lara Vow To Return To Cricket

The cricket World Cup held every four years brings unprecedented honour and pride for the winners and varying degree of joy for the teams reaching the semi-finals. It causes disappointment to the teams that get ousted in the preliminary round and humiliation to the team hitting the bottom. The worst effect of every World Cup competition is the massacre of some outstanding players whose ouster takes away lot of thrill and excitement from the game. The bottom teams lose faith in their players and adopt the tedious process of rebuilding their squads by inducting young players. They ignore the facts that the world-class teams are not rebuilt in a year or even in four years and that there being ‘no short cut to experience’, showing the door to senior players is a costly exercise.

The World Cup 2007 caused a lot of casualties, the top among them being the two skippers, Brian Lara and Inzamamul Haq. Since they were not yet the ‘spent force,’ not only that they have a burning desire to stage a come back, even the cricket lovers around the globe wish them to renounce their retirement and take the field to enthrall them with their magnificent stroke play.

In a recent statement, Lara stated that despite the fact that he was instrumental in bringing many victories to the West Indies, there was a group of self-seekers in the team who did not like his presence in the side. He was in his top form and sincerely felt that he could play for another 3-4 years. The World Cup disaster combined with the displeasure of this gang compelled him to announce his retirement. There is no doubt about the greatness of Lara. He was the top batsman with the highest scorers in Test cricket and also for creating some world records. Such players are born once in a century.

His Pakistani counter-part Inzamam is a player of no lesser merit. Having scored 8813 runs in 119 Test matches including a triple century that made him the second Pakistani to do so after Hanif Muhammad rendered him eligible for placement in the distinguished category of world’s cricketers. He was not wholly responsible for the Pakistan team’s World Cup disaster. To some extent the team management and the board were evenly responsible for the fiasco. There may have been some lapses in his command and control and possible flaws in tactical handling of the team but as a player he was certainly not yet down the hill. The pressure of unexpected disaster combined with the media hype and criticism compelled him to resign from captaincy as well as one-day cricket.

As for the Test cricket he considers himself fully fit to continue. He is only 20 runs short of Javed Miandad’s Test total of 8832 runs. Inzamam has a burning desire of not only crossing this figure but also achieving the land mark of 10,000 runs in Test cricket, that will certainly be an honour for Pakistan. Having made his intentions clear, he is not only practicing regularly but also attending a gym to keep him physically fit. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has, however, not yet given a positive response to Inzi’s desires, aims and objectives. Initially, they were very reluctant to have him back in the game. With a slight change of heart, the selection committee has now linked his return to Test cricket with his form and fitness. Knowing the calibre of the young crop of players, one does not find an outstanding youngster to replace Inzamam in the Test side. It will thus be in the best interest of Pakistan cricket to let him be a part of the Test XI. The two great players’ vow to return to cricket is luring them towards the Indian Cricket League (ICL) planned to be staged in India in October 2007. The contest is a purely private venture sponsored by India’s biggest media firm, Zee Telefilms. The Twenty20 tournament will be an international sort of a competition between six teams composed of two Indian internationals, four overseas players and eight juniors in each side. The ICL organising committee is approaching the former top players of the world to participate by offering lucrative financial terms. Although not approved by the BCCI, the contest has stirred the cricket world by evoking visions of a Kerry Packer style circus.

Lara who is a free man since his team’s defeat in the World Cup was the first foreign player to enlist himself with the ICL while Inzamam is still considering the offer. When questioned on the subject he remarked, ‘they have been in touch with me and I am considering the offer. If the terms are right, I will play’. The ICL has also invited a few more Pakistani players who are not a part of the present team. The PCB has, however, forbidden the contracted players from playing in this contest but has kept the door open for the ex-internationals. Still it is a dicey situation for Inzamam. He must get proper clearance from the board. Considering his future plans of returning to Test cricket, he should not take any risks. Among other internationals, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Stephen Fleming have accepted the offer while Jonty Rhodes is considering the same. While Kapil Dev is a director, Tony Greig and Dean Jones are members of the ICL Board. Explaining the aims and objectives of the contest Kapil said that the idea was to spread the game and give players an opportunity to make a living. I, however, feel that it is a wonderful means of promoting veterans’ cricket at international level.

(The writer is a former PCB chief executive officer)