Ul-Haq believes there was no reason for Warne to attack Dar
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has launched a scathing attack against legendary Australian leg-spinner Shane Warner for his criticism of International Cricket Council (ICC) umpire Aleem Dar.
Warne criticised Dar for making too many poor decisions during the second Test between India and England at Mumbai, but ul-Haq believes the former leg-spinner did it to “gain cheap publicity”.
“The way I look at it Warne has targeted Aleem Dar just to gain cheap publicity. That is all,” Inzamam told the Geo Super channel. “He (Warne) tried to pander to Indians.”
After the conclusion of the second Test, Warne tweeted: “Players get dropped if they have poor form, Aleem Dar has had 2 shockers in India & always has been a bad decision maker! Poor umpire.”
Ul-Haq has called on the ICC to take action against Warne for his unnecessary criticisms against Dar and added that the Pakistani-born umpire was one of the finest in cricket today.
“I have never seen a better umpire than Aleem Dar in my entire cricket career,” ul-Haq said.
The former Pakistan captain was also infuriated with India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s attitude towards the umpires during the second Test.
“I think it would be best for Dhoni to try to convince his board to use the Umpires Decision Review System (DRS) instead of criticising the umpires,” ul-Haq added.
Speaking about the DRS, ul-Haq stated that the ICC should make it a mandatory part of every series, whether the member nations like it or not.
“It is time the ICC get its member nations on the same wavelength as far as the DRS is concerned as it had proven beneficial for the game and teams,” ul-Haq said.
On the issue of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) searching for a new full-time batting coach, ul-Haq noted that former players are much better coaches than anyone with a degree since they have actually had experience playing the game.
“No matter what degree you obtain you can’t pass on the same sort of advice that someone of the calibre of Javed Miandad or Wasim Akram can,” ul-Haq said. “I have played so much international and domestic cricket, I don’t need any coaching degrees to teach a youngster what to do.
“I don’t think anyone can do this better than players who have played over 100 Tests for their countries.”
Ul-Haq also confirmed that he had been asked to help the Pakistan national team during their seven-day training camp before they left for India to play a limited overs series consisting of three ODIs and two Twenty20 Internationals.
However, ul-Haq admitted that seven days was not enough time to help prepare the national team for any kind of series.
“There is not much I can do in seven days,” ul-Haq added. “I can’t change technique of the batsmen but I will try to prepare them mentally for what they should expect in India.”
The ex-captain also warned the PCB to find a full-time batting coach before the national team tour South Africa at the start of next year.
“It wouldn’t matter that much in India if we don’t have a batting coach but for South Africa it is very important,” ul-Haq said.