Pakistan-India matches were not fixed: Tauqir Zia

BY : A CORRESPONDENT.
LAHORE: Lt General (retd), Tauqir Zia, former chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday that the matches of recently concluded Pakistan-India cricket series were not fixed saying Pakistan team suffered defeats due to lack of spirit and motivation.

"It is rubbish to say that the matches of the one-day and Test series were fixed, I do not see any such element involved in the defeat of our team," he told newsmen after the launching ceremony of one-day cricket book written by Khawaja Mohammad Aslam here.

He attributed the defeats to lack of spirit and motivation among the team members and said players failed to rise to the occasion.

Former PCB Chief said unity among the team members can create spirit and necessary confidence and disunity always brought destructive results. "PCB must look at this important aspect and efforts should be made to sink differences and petty issues among the players and with the creation of unity, spirit will automatically develop in the players," he said.

Tauqir said negative criticism on the Pakistan team must be stopped and that it should be encouraged to perform well. "Losing to India does not mean end of cricket, PCB authorities should sit together and grey areas of the team should be handled professionally," he said.

He said Chief Executive, Rameez Raja should not have been in the role of a commentator during this important series and he should have devoted time with the team to lift its morale and spirit. "It was not wise to continue with this assignment during this series and I must say that he (Rameez) should have taken all the measures in consideration to motivate the team to a level where it could perform up to the expectations," Tauqir insisted.

Regarding Inzamam’s captaincy, the former PCB Chief said he has proved himself a successful captain and he must be given the opportunity to continue.

Tauqir said he was expecting that the Pakistan team will win the one-day series 4-1 but it went other way as India displayed excellent show in the last two matches.

"We have a bunch of young players and if groomed and given proper opportunity they can prove asset," he said adding, "They must be taught discipline and unity so that they could integrate a winning combination."

He said Pakistan team is not an inferior side when compared with India but players were not guided properly to handle pressure situations.

Lt General Tauqir Zia said speedster Shoaib Akhtar needs special treatment and care and he should be given due importance as he is the match winning bowler and so is Muhammad Sami. He said coaching has become a science nowadays and specialised coaches are required to train players in their respective departments.

- Source : The News International, Pakistan.

Saturday, April 24, 2004.
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