I made right decision, says Inzamam
LONDON, Sept 30 (AFP) - Pakistan
captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said he made the right decision at The Oval last
month, when his team was adjudged to have forfeited the fourth Test,
even though his punishment means he will miss the Champions Trophy.
Inzamam was Thursday cleared of ball-tampering but found guilty of
bringing the game into disrepute over his side’s refusal to continue
play against England.
He will therefore be unable to lead his country into next month’s
Champions Trophy and must hand the reins to deputy Younis Khan.
“I knew I was going to be in trouble when I made the protest,”
Inzamam told Bigstarcricket.com.
“It was not a decision I took easily, because nobody wants to prevent
the spectators from watching the cricket - both at the ground and on
television.”
Even so - and despite the fact Pakistan became the first team in Test
history to forfeit a Test match - Inzamam does not believe he did the
wrong thing.
“Although I regret the public were deprived of watching cricket, I
don’t regret making the decision to stay off the field - because there
are certain things more important than winning and losing or the rule
book,” he said.
“I felt the respect and integrity of my country had been brought into
question, so the support the country has given me in this issue has been
comforting. It told me that we were right to do what we did.”
Inzamam believes his decision - which helped to hand England a 3-0
series victory - helped focus attention on what he saw as an unfair
ruling.
“If we had just carried on with the game, the world would not have
sat up and taken notice of how we had been accused of something we were
not guilty of,” he said.
“We felt we had to stand up and protest. Ultimately, I understand the
ICC’s decision to ban me. I did what I felt was right - and so did
they.”
Inzamam was heartened by the support he received from well-wishers at a
difficult time, saying: “I had a call on my mobile literally every
minute after the hearing and I appreciate everyone’s good wishes.” |