Inzamam-ul-Haq and Brian Lara spoke to the media at the end of the three-Test series

Osman Samiuddin at Karachi01-Dec-2006

‘This was a good win’: Inzamam-ul-Haq receives the series trophy from Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman © Getty Images
A comfortable 199-run win in the third and final Test at Karachi allowedPakistan to wrap up a fourth series win out of five in the last 12 months.Given the turbulence of the last three months, it will matter little thatit came against an improving West Indies side that still struggles awayfrom home: a win, and a comprehensive one ultimately, was needed.At the heart of the triumph was Mohammad Yousuf, multiple record-breakerand serial run-accumulator. With four hundreds and 665 runs from theseries, Yousuf’s batting was critical for Pakistan, especially withInzamam-ul-Haq and Younis Khan not in particularly prolific mood. ButInzamam, in commendable socialist spirit, was keen to spread the plaudits.”Mohammad Yousuf was exceptional throughout the series and he rightly isbeing praised by everyone for doing so well. But I also want to point outthat the entire team should get credit for the victory. There is always alot of pressure in a home series especially after we didn’t play well inEngland so this was a good win,” Inzamam told reporters after the day’splay.First among equals was Umar Gul, who ended the series with 16 wickets.Three of those were the especially crucial ones of Brian Lara, and mosttimes Pakistan needed a wicket, Gul delivered. Denied the services ofShoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif, Gul’s continued progress could not havebeen better timed for Pakistan.”Gul really bowled superbly for us,” admitted Inzamam. “To get 16 wicketson such tracks is a major achievement especially considering that we werewithout our main bowlers. He was also well supported by Shahid Nazir andDanish Kaneria too.”In a series replete with records, one achievement stands out. Pakistanwent through the entire series with an unchanged playing XI for only thesecond time in their 54-year history, the first being the 1964-65 homeseries against New Zealand. Not that there weren’t any calls for change.Before the final Test, calls for another specialist in place of anallrounder had been aired but Inzamam held firm in the name of stability.”You can’t play with four fast bowlers on such low and slow wickets. Youneed one bowler who can also contribute with the bat. And anyway there hasbeen enough criticism heaped on me in the past for changing the team allthe time.”Changing the side in each of the three Tests didn’t help his counterpartLara. Though this defeat was the West Indies’s 17th in the last 25 Testsaway from home, Lara insisted some positives could be drawn.”Pakistan is a tough place to play cricket and playing a Test series couldonly be a positive and improve us. A couple of younger players came out ofthis series well, including Denesh Ramdin and Jerome Taylor. We have stillsome young players coming out like Ramdin. We are not down in the dumpsabout it.”Of course it’s disappointing to lose a series, but you have to givecredit toward the end to the Pakistanis for playing tough cricketthroughout. I’m still proud of my team, they worked very hard after theLahore Test match and played pretty good cricket in Multan.”The good cricket would have paid more dividends had catches been taken.Mohammad Yousuf was dropped six times through the series and in total, atleast a dozen were spilled. “Yeah, we dropped a few important but we stillmanaged to play some tough cricket. At the end of the day, ourperformances in Tests still need to be improved.”With the ODI series due to begin from December 5, fortunes may swiftlyturn around. West Indies have been a much-improved limited-overs sideunder Lara’s captaincy, and the focus, said Lara, will switch seamlesslyto the longer-term now.”In the one-day arena, we have played some very good cricket in the lasttwo to three months, reaching the finals of the DLF Cup and the ChampionsTrophy. Our main focus is now to the final at Barbados in the World Cup.Ramnaresh Sarwan will be missed in the series but we have some goodplayers coming in.”