Waqar advocates best-of-three finals

By Rizwan Ehsan Ali

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 24. Pakistan captain Waqar Younis feels best-of- three finals is the best option to decide the winner of a one-day tournament.

Waqar will be leading Pakistan in the Champions Trophy, starting at Sharjah from Oct. 26, with Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka the other two opponents in a double-league tournament before the final on Nov. 4.

``I think its injustice to teams who have played good cricket in the league matches and then lose the final just because of one bad day,'' Waqar said as he prepared to leave for Sharjah on Tuesday evening.

Waqar said that this time the organiser in Sharjah were planning to organise the best of three finals, but may be because of the situation, it didn't materialise.

Ironically, Waqar has captained in three Triangular tournaments and had lost the final on all the three occasions. He first captained Pakistan in last years Tri series in Singapore where Pakistan got better of South Africa in the league match but lost the final against the same opponents.

In April this year, Sri Lanka lost both its league matches against Pakistan in Sharjah before Sanath Jayasuriya's men defeated Waqar Younis team in the final.

Similarly, Pakistan won the league game against world champion Australia in a Triangular series in England this year only to finish on a losing note in the final at the hands of Steve Waugh's well-drilled Aussies.

``We have choked in the finals on all the three occasions after playing flawless game in the league stage,'' said Waqar. ``Probably our batsmen played reckless strokes and were buckled under pressure.''

But this time, Waqar hopes Pakistan come good against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, although they have not played any international cricket for nearly four months due to crisis in the region after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

``If our batsmen utilise full quota of 50 overs, I think we have a good chance in Sharjah,'' the Pakistan captain said.

Most of the Pakistan players - Shoaib Akhtar, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Inzamamul Haq, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar, Wasim Akram - all kept themselves tuned up for Sharjah tournament as they played in the domestic first class tournament during the last one month.

``I am quite satisfied with the performance of my players in the domestic cricket,'' said Waqar.

Last Saturday, Waqar was one of the four players who recorded their statements before the match-fixing commission of Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari in Lahore in connection with Pakistan's two World Cup matches against Bangladesh and India.

``It hurts me,'' Waqar said. ``Without any evidence, players are summoned and its very depressing.''

Waqar said that he has played enough cricket to perform under such pressure. But what will happen to youngsters and they would always feel that one bad shot would label them as cheats. We need the support of our public. They should realise that victory and defeat is the part of game and they should not make defeat their ego problem.''

Pakistan would miss the services of Inzamamul Haq in the first two games because the burly right-hander is under ICCs two-match suspension. ``We are not a one-man team. We have good players and I am sure they will perform and would try to cement their places in the team,'' Waqar said.

Pakistan captain hoped that a fit-again speedster Shoaib Akhtar could destroy any batting line-up. If he finds his rhythm and stays fit I think he would destroy opponents batting line-up. He has been working hard in the domestic cricket and has impressed everyone.

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