BBC SPORT | Cricket | Specials | ICC Champions Trophy | Inzamam blow adds to Pakistan woe

Pakistan cricket is facing up to a double blow with coach Mudassar Nazar sent home from Colombo and Inzamam-ul-Haq requiring urgent surgery.

The squad for the three Tests on October against Australia at neutral venues will now be missing Inzamam, plus Saeed Anwar and Wasim Akram.

Saeed and Wasim are mulling over their long-term futures, while Inzamam's heel injury could force him to miss the World Cup.

But it is the news that Mudassar is travelling back to Pakistan in the middle of the Champions Trophy which could have the most ramifications.

Mudassar Nazar
Mudassar fears for his future

Coach Mudassar believes both he and skipper Waqar Younis could lose their jobs.

"I spoke to the General (PCB chairman Tauqir Zia) and he wanted me to take the first available flight out, to discuss something about team problems," Mudassar said on Sunday.

"It could mean the coach being changed, it could mean captain being changed.

"It could mean a new strategy for the team, or new players."

Pakistan, thrashed by Sri Lanka in a virtual elimination match on Friday, have failed to shine for the third consecutive one-day tournament.

They failed to reach the final of the Morocco tri-series and shared the trophy with Australia in the next one in Nairobi only after rain forced the final to be abandoned.

Nassar said the team was struggling because of poor fitness levels which could affect their performance in the Tests against Australia, to be played in Sri Lanka and Sharjah.

The Pakistan public is starved of seeing its heroes

Mudassar Nazar

"There is a crisis, in the sense the team has done so well before the last three tournaments, won the majority of matches compared to the rest of the teams.

"But the drop has been pretty steep and has caught everyone by surprise. Once the slide started it has been very difficult to stem it."

Inzamam, 32, was forced to miss the Champions Trophy due to his injury which requires surgery.

Playing away

Mudassar said the inability to play at home owing to security problems was also taking its toll on the players.

New Zealand were the last team to tour Pakistan in May this year.

But they abandoned the trip on the morning of the second Test in Karachi after a fatal bomb blast outside their hotel.

"It has affected us a lot, the younger players in particular," said Mudassar.

"We don't get the breather we need and the Pakistan public is starved of seeing its heroes."


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