Differences galore between senior players and Miandad

By Rizwan Ehsan Ali

ISLAMABAD, APRIL 1. If the Pakistan Cricket Board implements the recommendations of its tour manager to New Zealand, either senior players will be retained on the team or Javed Miandad has to replaced as coach of the National side.

In a well documented 30-page tour report, manager Faqir Aizazuddin has conceded that breach between senior players and Miandad kept widening as the tour progressed and towards the end, it had become beyond repair.

It seems either he (Miandad) has to go or the senior players have to be left out in case if the PCB wants the management and the players to function smoothly. Aizazuddin, whose report will be discussed in Tuesday's PCB Advisory Council meeting, has written that there was a wide communication gap between players and the coach during the tour of New Zealand.

Without naming any of the senior players, Aizazuddin has written: ``It was seen that the senior members gave no or little weight to his words of wisdom and thought that he (Miandad) had negative perceptions.'' According to Aizazuddin, after the loss at Christchurch, in the fourth one-day international, Miandad received a stinging letter from the chairman of PCB Lt. Gen. Tauqir Zia.

Miandad was really upset and talked on telephone and conveyed to the chairman that he wanted to discontinue the tour and resign immediately. However, he was requested by the chairman to complete the tour.

The manager has, however, pinpointed three senior players in the team, who did not give their 100 per cent on the tour, including captain Moin Khan. He has described Moin as a mediocre captain, who in Aizazuddin's opinion, was somewhat uncomfortable with the management and the administrators back home.

Ace all-rounder Wasim Akram pulled out of the three-Test series after complaining of a side strain problem and returned home, but Aizazuddin felt Akram could have continued the series but chose to abort his stint in New Zealand. He felt that Akram sometimes played irresponsible cricket.

On Saeed Anwar, who is listed at No. 6 in players' individual report, Aizazuddin felt that the left-handed opener returned home due to groin problem. Some thought that he was exaggerating the extent of his pain. He also knows his future is uncertain and ambiguous as most of the administrators back home think that he is over the hill and his days as an international cricketer are numbered.

Abdur Razzaq, who also returned soon after the one-day series, also failed to win any points from his manager, as Aizazuddin has written: ``Razzaq was never in form during the series and on two occasions defied the coach and his irresponsible strokes cost Pakistan the matches at Napier and Christchurch''.

The manager's report clearly indicates that there are lot of differences between the coach and most of the senior players. Most of the injuries to key players were described by the manager as exaggeration which forced the cricket board to make at least seven changes for the Test series.

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