Pak, CA should have tried to save the tour: Inzamam

Agencies

Posted online: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 1443 hrs IST

Panchkula, March 12:
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that PCB and Cricket Australia (CA) should have held ‘more discussions’ and waited for some more time before postponing the Australian tour to his country.

“It is very sad that Australia has decided to scrap the tour of Pakistan. It’s not good for cricket,” 38-year-old Inzamam, who is currently captaining ‘Lahore Badshahs’ in the ICL Twenty20 tournament said in Panchkula.

He said Australia should have toured Pakistan, even if it could have been delayed by some time, adding that the CA’s decision will not be good for Pakistan’s cricket, especially when the young team is trying to rebuild itself.

“The two Boards should have sat down and had more discussions. Both should have tried to find a way to save the tour,” he said.

Inzamam, who struck an unbeaten 50 last night to guide his team to a win over Chennai Superstars, said he was happy that several talented youngsters were showing their mettle in the ICL tournament.

“ICL is proving good for young talent,” he said, and termed it as unfortunate the decision by some Boards to bar players who feature in the ICL.

Meanwhile, ICL’s Executive Board Chairman Kapil Dev told PTI that they will continue to fight against those “who try to create hurdles for them or their players”.

“We will take this fight to any extent. I want to raise one question, have we (ICL) done anything wrong? If we have, please tell us, we will rectify it,” the former Indian captain said.