Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 153 Mon. October 25, 2004  
   
Sports


End of road for Moin?


Pakistan captain Inzamamul Haq signalled the end of the road for wicketkeeper Moin Khan on Sunday after his team lost the first Test to Sri Lanka by 201 runs.

Inzamam, previously criticised in the national press for shielding Moin, said that a new wicketkeeper should be given a chance in the second Test at Karachi.

"Moin's performance in his last 15 to 16 one-day internationals and last few Test matches has not been up to the mark. We have to try out a new wicketkeeper now," he said.

Moin made his comeback against South Africa in October last year after being ignored by the national selectors for more than two years but failed to deliver on his return.

The 33-year-old has played 69 Tests and 219 one-dayers but has scored just one century and one half-century in his last 10 Tests and accumulated 167 runs in his last 20 one-day internationals.

Pakistan have included wicketkeeper Zulqarnain Haider in their Test squad although they used batsman Younis Khan as a wicketkeeper during the recent triangular series with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe when Moin missed two games due to illness.

Moin was sacked as captain in April 2001 after a tour of New Zealand but came back into favour shortly after former captain and wicketkeeper Rashid Latif walked out following differences with the selectors.

Inzamam also blamed his batsmen in general for the huge defeat and said there could be other changes for the final match in the two-Test series which starts in Karachi on Thursday.

"None of the batsmen played like one should play in a Test match," he told reporters. "We all got out to irresponsible shots. We have very little time to shape up and take more responsibility in the second Test."

The Pakistan captain said there had been no excuse on a pitch which was good for batting.

"We have played a lot of one-day internationals and it affected our batting in this Test. But to win the next Test we have to give our bowlers at least 400 runs to bowl with," he said.

"We failed to live up to the expectations and now we must stand up to save this series," said Inzamam.

"We did not stay long at the wicket although it was perfect for batting and we now need to make some changes."

He also said that the emphasis would be put on picking specialist players instead of all-rounders.

"The only reason we went into this match with two all rounders (Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik) was because they were in good form. I thought we played with our best side," he said.

Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu was delighted with the win despite being dismissed twice without scoring.

"It was a fantastic win in the sense that we fought back after our first innings collapse after winning the toss. And on a pitch which was not bad for batting," he said.

"A win away from home is always good. But we have to start winning more games outside the sub-continent. Still beating Pakistan in Pakistan is a good achievement."

Atapattu praised double century maker Sanath Jayasuriya for his match-winning effort.

"I said in my pre-match comments that Jayasuriya is a match winner and he proved me right."

Atapattu said he was always confident of winning after the former skipper scored 253 in the tourists' second innings total of 438. Pakistan were forced to chase a huge 418 to win but were bowled out for 216.

"It was a good wicket I thought, going by the statistics 280 was the average score at this ground and nobody has chased 250 in the fourth innings so we knew about it and we planned accordingly."