NEWS
OTHER SPORTS
DIARY
PEOPLE
MATCH REPORTS
SLIDE SHOW
ARCHIVES

'We are waiting for Friday', says Akram

Pakistan captain Wasim Akram minced no words about the reason for his team's second consequtive defeat in the Coca Cola Cup in Sharjah.

Speaking to Rediff On The Net on the phone from Sharjah, Akram said he was worrried about the middle order of his batting lineup. He added that a bulk of the blame for the defeat should go to the fielders, pointing out that they had, for instance, conceeded too many singles to Rahul Dravid and Sadagopan Ramesh during the partnership that took the game away from Pakistan.

Asked if he thought the team had peaked too soon, Akram said that he had no such worries, that the team had merely had a bad day in office, and were looking forward to taking on the rejuvenated Indians in the finals.

Wasim said that though Pakistan had been at full strength in the final league match at Sharjah and had been defeated by a "half strength Indian team", he saw no need to press the panic button. "I am disappointed with the team's performance, but it is just one of those things," he said.

Praising the captaincy of Ajay Jadeja as astute, Akram said that he never let the pressure off, forcing some of his batsmen into playing rash strokes.

He said that a total of 205 was always going to be difficult to defend, his team failed because they were chasing for the first time in Sharjah, and of late, "Pakistan has been pretty inconsistent in chasing totals". Akram said that Pakistan's strength lies in their bowling, and that is what the side should use as the cornerstone of its strategy.

Saying that there could be no excuse for defeat, he added that however, the dew did pose some problems for his bowlers in gripping the ball, especially towards the latter part of the match.

"I played the match despite being fully fit because I believe that one should not take any match lightly and lose the winning streak," said Akram. The Pakistan captain, in the final match, was suffering from a strained back -- he wore a back brace while bowling and fielding in the match against India.

Dr. Dan Kiesel, asked about Akram's injury, said it was no big deal, and that it would heal with a day's rest.

Akram himself said he felt fine. "Friday's match will be a very big game for us, we are looking forward to it," warned Akram.

Sonny Abraham in Sharjah adds:

Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram and coach Javed Miandad have dismissed allegations about match-fixing aired by former captain Rashid Latif after the side lost to England in the Coca Cola Cup cricket series here.

Pakistan, who had already made it to the final of the tournament, went down to England by 62 runs in their penultimate league match.

Since then, they have also lost to India by six wickets in their last league engagement. The two sides will meet in the final tomorrow.

Reports from Karachi had quoted Latif as saying that he suspected the match against England had been fixed.

"These guys are once again trying to make fools of the public. The way they lost the match, it is obvious something fishy has again started in the team," he was quoted as telling a news agency.

Latif also suggested that opener Saeed Anwar had missed a match against Sri Lanka in India and against England here because he may not have wanted to be part of match-fixing.

The former Pakistani wicket-keeper is one of the witnesses in the inquiry being conducted by a judge into the betting and match-fixing charges in Pakistan.

"It seems that we have to win every game we play to keep the allegations at bay," Akram was quoted as saying in the Dubai-based Khaleej Times today.

"It is absolutely disappointing to hear one of those things again. We won every game in the recent past but still have to do some explanationss just because one man who is not even in the team says something which suits him from thousands of miles away. It's pathetic," he said.

Akram said his side had fought till the last ball even in the games it had lost.

"The opposition played better and they won, it is as simple as that. I tried everything I knew to win both the games (against England and India) but they just did not go our way," he said.

''When India were losing, nobody said that they had fixed the matches. It's becoming a little too much,'' he said.

Anwar said the allegations by Latif were "rubbish and absolutely false".

''I sat out of the game against Sri Lanka because I had irritation in my eyes and against England i was not able to run because of a stiff back. That's all. I have no further comments to make on this subject,'' the newspaper quoted Anwar as saying.

Miandad said Latif's remarks were "unfortunate but nothing new for us now".

"We are trying to win every game we play and most of them we are winning. How come he knows what is going on here in Sharjah? This is absolutely pathetic and should end now", he said.

"I am happy with the way the team is playing and all the boys are working very hard to win every game they play", he added.