Inzamam-ul Haq fans may miss his on-field prowess in the forthcoming Indo-Pak series, but they will be treated to his dry wit as he starts a new innings as host of a special TV series on Zee News.

Will Shoaib Akhtar’s return to the Pak team make a difference? “If Shoaib plays, it will make a difference,” he said with a deadpan expression. The difficult time he had as captain, managing the fiery pacer, was evident in that one line.

Told that the Pakistan team was missing him in their ranks, he said: “I thank them. I am missing the team too. But this is life. You have to leave one day,” a visibly leaner Inzamam said here today.

He, however, dismissed talk that this was one of the weakest Pakistan teams to tour India. “When we came here in 2005, the same was being said about us, but we did well. This is a young side. Look at how both India and Pakistan performed in the Twenty20 World Cup. Both were young sides and they reached the final, getting past stronger teams like Australia and South Africa.”

He also played down Mohammed Asif’s absence in this tour. “There are other bowlers who can take over,” he said.

He maintained that the key players for India and Pakistan would be Sachin Tendulkar and Shahid Afridi. “I was surprised to see that (Rahul) Dravid was not in the team for the first two one-dayers. He is a great player and India need his experience. Pakistan should take advantage of that.”

... contd.