COLOMBO: The absence of Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq from the scheduled post match conferences for the fourth time in succession at the Asia Cup tournament has set tongues wagging and there is a feeling he avoids the cross questioning because of his limited command over English language.
So far Inzamam has failed to appear at the post match conferences after the games against Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka and also didn’t show up for the launching conference of the main rounds which was attended by all the other captains and coaches.
His vice captain Yousuf Youhana attended the launch conference with coach Bob Woolmer who has, however, made it a point to attend all post match conferences.
On Wednesday night after Pakistan lost to Sri Lanka, Woolmer in fact tried to play down the continued absence of Inzamam from the post match conferences by stating he had sent his apologies to which a scribe asked that what were the apologies for?
Pakistan manager Haroon Rasheed also appeared to be a bit embarrassed when queried by the newsmen about Inzamam’s failure to attend all the post-match conferences in a row but insiders said that after the Sri Lankan game, Haroon and Woolmer had tried to convince Inzamam to attend the post match conference.
Insiders say Inzamam is basically not keen to attend the conferences because of the difficulties he faces responding to questions in English.
The Pakistan captain is not the first player from Pakistan to face this language problem. Other captains before him with a few exceptions have also struggled to make an impression and give proper answers at post or pre-match conferences. Rashid Latif and Yousuf Youhana are also two such examples.
Interestingly, Inzamam has no problems interacting with the Pakistan media on a one to one basis and in Urdu.
The coach did not take the humiliation on his own chin and instead placed the entire blame on the players. He minced no words with his sarcastic and below-the-belt remarks especially against batsmen during the post-match press conference.
Woolmer’s choice of words against the dismissals of Inzamam, Yousuf Youhana and Imran Nazir were not only insulting but also gave a hint of suggestion that they deliberately threw their wickets.
Pakistan batsmen have performed even worse at the R. Premadasa Stadium on numerous occasions in the past but never has the coach degraded the players so distastefully in front of the world media.
Surely, it did not go well with the players and already there seems to be a cold war between the coach and the captain on the tour. Inzamam has not attended any of the last five press conferences alongside Woolmer. It has been two ‘silent characters’ Youhana and manager Haroon Rasheed who turned up at the briefings but hardly uttered a word.
Anybody who saw the pathetic manner of dismissal of those batsmen wouldn't disagree with Woolmer one bit. In fact I was so disgusted I put up a thread in general so I know exactly how Woolmer feels. These idiots are the most unprofessional bunch of clowns in world cricket today. If Woolmer doesn't get the backing of the board I will give up on pak cricket - unless someone shakes things up we are finished.
thye need an introduction in "Ego requires a Reason " which they dont have...
i think they should give woolmer full control and kick all those Ego masters out.. drop em for a few tournaments then only will they realise wat they are worth ..
I am a big believer in 'it's not how much you have scored but how you got out'. In my books, you can score six ducks in a row and I will be OK with as long as you did not throw your wickets away. For example, Imran Farhat, Asim Kamal, Abdur Razzaq, and to some extent Moin Khan NEVER give away their wickets. But Yousuf Youhana and Inzi have done it on numerous occassions. Anyone remembers Inzi's coming down the wicket against Shane Warne in 1999 WC?.
So, it's the way you get out that shows if you are professional enough or not. I think Inzi is a World Class batsman but he is not counted among the very best because of his lazy and carefree attitude.
thats stupid of him for not attending such conference where all the captains were invited… zara sa bhi confidence nahi hia… english nahi aati so what.. get a translator, … atleast dont hideee like that… now its in the news…
babakhaan bhia: in our team almost every other player has ego witht he excpetions of newbies… is tarah if we started to kick our players we will have nothing in the end…they need lesson rather than get kicked out…
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
So, it's the way you get out that shows if you are professional enough or not. I think Inzi is a World Class batsman but he is not counted among the very best because of his lazy and carefree attitude.
[/QUOTE]
exactly... when was the last time he played a captain's inning... and that also includes when he is on the field... i have seen alot of shots by indians and we missed it just because of his poor fielding....
thats bad.. we cant changed the captain... thr isnt anyone who is anygood
OK, back to discussion
tau mai keh rahaa thaa naa kay I am really sorry but I don’t agree with your comment above. Inzi has played many captain’s innings against india in pakistan.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by funguy: *
So, it's the way you get out that shows if you are professional enough or not. I think Inzi is a World Class batsman but he is not counted among the very best because of his lazy and carefree attitude.
[/QUOTE]
Exactly. I look at it this way, if your top and middle order give away their wickets in such a pathetic manner then the oppositon really doesn't have to do anything. We have to work hard to get the Jayasuriya's, Tendulkars and Dravids out but our so called superstars just gift away their wickets. That's like batting with only 2-3 batsmen.
funguu.. i didnt see u much in cafe recently .. to phir itni saari smilies aik post main… wow.. anyways how u been.. i m fine alhamdullillah.. laikin abhi tak disappointment khatam nahi huay… lets hope for the best…
read it again yar… i said that also includes fielding too… didnt u see his poor fielding on the same matches… for me a complete inning doesnt mean batting na… ok i agree he played well… but if he is a worldclass batsman then why didnt he deliver the same thing against srilanka… where this new guy hameed stayed in the crease for some 40-50 mins… naqd only scored some 22 odd runs aur captain inning wo hoty hia jo team ko lai kar chalay aur match bhi jeetayee… agar aisa hota to we wouldnt have lost test and ODI series in such a way…
Pakistani players were humiliated twice in Pak-SL match. I feel, Woolmer didn't really need to say what he felt like in front of the media. But I guess, you have to do that if you're coaching Pakistani team.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by a1kashur: *
Pakistani players were humiliated twice in Pak-SL match. I feel, Woolmer didn't really need to say what he felt like in front of the media. But I guess, you have to do that if you're coaching Pakistani team.
Anyway, we'll see the result of all this tonight.
[/QUOTE]
i think the match is on sunday..... so it will be tommorwo night..
I would prefer not seeing inzamam at any press conferences.. the dude cant speak english and his answers are never related to the questions being asked.. so why bother.Woolmer should be the handling the mic and inzi should just rest during the press conferences.. listening to inzi after each toss is enough for the fans..
Dawn is making such a big deal out of Woolmer’s comments. No one has use degraded comments before?? yeah right. Its only few months ago that they were criticizing Miandad for scolding bowlers rather than accepting responsiblity of bowling failures. Dawn likes to argue everything PCB in general and Ramiz Raja in particular does and criticizing Woolmer is related to that.
No one notices when Steve Waugh was criticized by his own coach for playing an jet-legged Mcgrath Against West Indies. Its true that Success has no enemies and Failure has no friends.
Re Topic at hand, I dont see why there was a special news article related to such insignificant news. Okay, captain’s absence is noticable but if he cant speak English, why dont you guys accept it for a while and talk with others?
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by saby: *
Re Topic at hand, I dont see why there was a special news article related to such insignificant news. Okay, captain's absence is noticable but if he cant speak English, why dont you guys accept it for a while and talk with others?
[/QUOTE]
I think the point is that it shows a lack of commitment rather than anything else. I mean Youhana shows up in his place, is his English any better? Nor does he even say anything. It's a kind of symbolic thing, he can attend and Woolmer can do all the talking. Furthermore, this is not Inzimam's first series as captain, he has attended them before, why all of a sudden this shyness?
I think the point is that it shows a lack of commitment rather than anything else. I mean Youhana shows up in his place, is his English any better? Nor does he even say anything. It's a kind of symbolic thing, he can attend and Woolmer can do all the talking. Furthermore, this is not Inzimam's first series as captain, he has attended them before, why all of a sudden this shyness?
[/QUOTE]
Firstly, Inzimam hasnt faced such controversies like shoaib one before. So we can safely assume that there will be questions regarding his relations with shoaib and stuff related and if he feels he is gonna mess up the answers he is right in shying away for the moment.
Secondly, yes youhana's english is better than Inzimam these days because during last two months, he took some english tutions from a person i know and he said that he has improved a lot since india series.
Dawn is making such a big deal out of Woolmer's comments. No one has use degraded comments before?? yeah right. Its only few months ago that they were criticizing Miandad for scolding bowlers rather than accepting responsiblity of bowling failures. Dawn likes to argue everything PCB in general and Ramiz Raja in particular does and criticizing Woolmer is related to that.
[/QUOTE]
As I already said, can anybody say that the amateur-ish nature of the dismissals DIDN'T deserve criticism? This is international cricket not some gulli tape ball match.
Saby ,
I agree with you on your comment about Down's article.
Coming to Inzi issue. I think one of the Job of captain is talking to media ,apart from obvious jobs like leading the team,team selection and taking other decisions.
Now he doesnt seem to be motivating players on ground. He cannot talk to Media. Then why the heck is he Captain. Just because he is the senior mos & best player in team . That is the wrong reason to pick a captain.
Why not someone like Youhana be Captain. Anyway He is doing half the job. This issue of hurting Ego is blown out of proportion. If Gream Smith lead a team where 9-10 players who are seniors to him and if Ganguly can lead a team where Sachin and Kumble are almost 7-8 senior to them,then why cant Yoyo lead a team which has only 5 yr senior Inzi in team.
but I don’t agree 
with your comment above. Inzi has played many captain’s innings against india in pakistan.
wow.. anyways how u been.. i m fine alhamdullillah.. laikin abhi tak disappointment khatam nahi huay… lets hope for the best…
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