PCB to introspect teams failure, may take some tough measures

Lahore, Dec 14 (UNI) After an embarrassing defeat in both ODIs and Test, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is gearing up to take some tough measures in the meeting of national cricket's think-tank here today.

''The meeting has been called to carry out a post-mortem of our team's performance in India,'' Shafqat Naghmi, the Board's Chief Operating Officer (COO), said.

''Obviously a lot of questions will be asked because we didn't really perform well on the tour,'' Naghmi told 'The News'.

Malik and team manager Talat Ali Malik will attend the meeting that would be chaired by PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf while a couple of other top Board officials will also be present.

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson will not be able to attend the meeting as the Board has permitted him to fly off to his hometown Sydney where he is to attend his son's graduation ceremony, a top PCB official said.

Naghmi said that two of the national selectors --Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffer-- will also be attending the meeting. Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed will be absent as he is currently unwell.

Speculation is rife in Pakistan about a possible reshuffle in the national team management including stripping Malik of captaincy.

Malik has been appointed as skipper after a disastrous caribbean World Cup campaign early this year. After showing promise early on under Malik's captaincy, Pakistan's campaign to become the world's top team has received severe jolt with back-to-back defeats against South Africa (at home) and in India.

Naghmi, however, did not confirm or deny such rumours but made it clear that the Board is ready to take necessary steps to improve the performance of the team.

''The meeting will not just be about singling out the people who are to be blamed for the defeats in India.

''It would also be to analyse what went wrong during the tour and more importantly we would be expecting people to come out with solid suggestions to bring improvement,'' the COO added.

Naghmi said that the Board may take a few important decisions following the meeting.

UNI