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Inzy urges quality pitches

Acknowledging the standard of pitches and the performance of the players in the ongoing Pakistan Cup are not up the mark, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has emphasised the quality of tracks needs to be improved for tangible improvement in Pakistan cricket.
Talking to reporters as chief guest after distributing prizes at Muslim Gymkhana's annual match between Inzamam-ul-Haq-XI and Taufiq Umar-Ahmed Shehzad XI at Bagh-i-Jinnah here on Thursday, the chief selector said though it was not his domain to speak on the standard of the pitches, it (the poor quality of pitches) was a fact.
"The standard (of pitches) should be enhanced if Pakistan wants to bring improvement in its players and domestic cricket structure," the former captain emphasised.
Giving a hint about his selection policy, Inzamam declared that players who performed under tough conditions would be preferred over top-scorer of the event.
"In the past, on most occasions prolific scorers in domestic cricket were given top priority in national team selection but my (selection committee's) approach will be to pick only those who are capable of playing match-winning role," Inzamam maintained.
"The career of all the players including that of Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal and others are safe. As long as they produce impressive performance (in domestic circuit) they will remain in contention for selection in national team."
Inzamam further said he met all three national captains - Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed and sought their feedback on matters concerning selection.
"After the (ongoing) Pakistan Cup, probables for the boot camp, to be held in Abbottabad to prepare the national team for the tough tour of England, will be announced," Inzamam said.
Pakistan are scheduled to undertake a long tour to England from July to September during which they will play four Tests, five ODIs and one-off T20.
To a question, Inzamam said he had not yet read the report of outgoing head coach Waqar Younis, who had forwarded some suggestions in the said report - how to improve Pakistan cricket that has suffered a free fall in recent limited-overs international contests.
Responding to a query, Inzamam said, "Veteran Test cricketers Misbah and Younis Khan were great assets of Pakistan cricket. It will be a tough challenge to fill the gap after their retirement".
On why Mushtaq Ahmed who was recently named NCA head coach attended the first meeting of the selection committee in Faisalabad, Inzamam clarified, "He (Mushtaq) had brought with him a detailed report about the available players for national team selection. "For this task Mushtaq was sent by the PCB," Inzamam added.