Inzamam-ul Haq's conduct during the Oval Test has come in for sharp criticism from the new Pakistan Cricket Board chief Nasim Ashraf who has squarely blamed him for the forfeiture.
Ashraf's attack on the captain comes amidst a compensation claim of 80,000 pounds being slapped on the PCB by its England counterpart.
"Inzamam is to be blamed for the forfeiture of The Oval Test because he refused to return to the field. It is because of his way of protesting the ball-tampering charges that we are being asked for a substantial compensation by the ECB," Ashraf was quoted as saying by local daily The News on Thursday.
But having said this, Ashraf also insisted the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is not justified in asking Pakistan to pay compensation, pointing out that it were the umpires who triggered the crisis.
Team manager Zaheer Abbas had also blamed Inzamam for refusing to take the field on the fourth day of the fourth day of the Test.
Ashraf, who was in the thick of action during the proceedings that led to The Oval forfeiture, said it is only after several officials including him and former PCB chief Shaharyar Khan convinced him to take the field that Inzamam agreed to resume play but by then it was too late.
Pakistan were later cleared of the ball-tampering charges by the International Cricket Council but Inzamam was banned for four One-day Internationals for bringing the game into disrepute.
But Ashraf said Pakistan would not pay any compensation because the umpires and not Pakistan, were responsible for the farcical end of the Test.
© 2024 Rediff.com -